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The  Atlanta  University  Publications,  No.  17 
THE 

NEQRO  AMERICAN 

ARTISAN 

A  Social  Study  made  by  Atlanta  Uni= 
versity,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund 


Price,  75  Cents 


The  Atlanta  University  Press 

ATLANTA,  GA. 

1912 


Kg* 


FOR  my  part,  then,  I  am  a  mem- 
ber of  the  human  race,  and  this 
is  a  race  which  is,  as  a  whole,  con- 
siderably lower  than  the  angels,  so 
that  the  whole  of  it  very  badly  needs 
race-elevation.  In  this  need  of  my 
race  I  personally  and  very  deeply 
share.  And  it  is  in  this  spirit  only 
that  I  am  able  to  approach  our  prob- 
lem. 

—Josiah  Royce. 


i 


PS53 


i£x  iCtbrifl 


SEYMOUR    DURST 


The  Atlanta  University  Publications,  No.  1  7 

THE 

NEGRO  AMERICAN 

ARTISAN 


Report  of  a  Social  Study  made  by  Atlanta  University 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Trustees  of  the  John  F. 
Slater  Fund;  with  the  Proceedings  of  the  1  7th  Annual 
Conference  for  the  Study  of  the  Negro  Problems,  held 
at  Atlanta  University,  on  Monday,  May  27th,  1912 


Edited  hy 

W.  E.  Burghardt  Du  Bois,  Ph.D. 

Diretlor  of  Publicity  and  Research,  National  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Colored  People 


Augustus  Granville  Dill,  A.M. 

Associate  Professor  of  Sociology  in  Atlanta  University 


The  Atlanta  University  Press 

ATLANTA.  GA. 

1912 


Avery  Architectural  and  Pine  Arts  Library 
(in  i  oi  Seymour  B.  Dursi  Old  York  Library 


IT  IS  something  more  than  mere 
prediction  to  suggest  that  along 
the  lines  of  liberal  surroundings,  ed- 
ucation, and  culture  lies  the  ultimate 
solution  of  the  labor  problem. 

-Thomas  Nixon  Carver. 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Contents 

Page 

Program  of  the  Seventeenth  Annual  Conference 4 

Preface  5 

Resolutions 7 

Bibliography 9 

1.  Scope  of  the  Inquiry 21 

2.  The  African  Artisan 24 

3.  The  Ante-bellum  Negro  American  Artisan 28 

4.  The  Economics  of  Emancipation .37 

5.  The  Occupations  of  Negroes 41 

6.  Alabama 48 

7.  Arizona,  Colorado,  Nevada,  New  Mexico  and  Utah  ....  50 

8.  Arkansas 50 

9.  California 51 

10.  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts 52 

11.  Delaware,  District  of  Columbia  and  Maryland 52 

12.  Florida 53 

13.  Georgia 54 

14.  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin 57 

15.  Iowa  and  Kansas 58 

16.  Kentucky 59 

17.  Louisiana 61 

18.  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  Vermont 62 

19.  Mississippi 63 

20.  Missouri 65 

21.  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania 66 

22.  North  Carolina 70 

23.  Ohio 70 

24.  Oklahoma 73 

25.  Oregon  and  the  Northwest 74 

26.  South  Carolina 74 

27.  Tennessee •  .   .  76 

28.  Texas 77 

29.  Virginia 79 

30.  West  Virginia 81 

31.  The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor 82 

32.  Some  Results  of  the  Attitude  of  Unions 106 

33.  The  Training  of  Negro  American  Artisans 115 

34.  The  Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American 127 

Index 143 


The  Seventeenth  Annual  Conference 


The  Negro  Artisan  " 


PROGRAM 

First  Session,  10:00  a.  m. 

President  Ware  presiding. 

Subject:   "The  Training  of  Artisans." 

"Methods  of  the  Present  Investigation."     Mr.  A.  G.  Dill,  of  Atlanta 

University. 
Address:  Mr.  Chester  A.  Coles,  of  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Address:  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  of  New  York  City. 

Second  Session,  11:30  a.  m. 

Subject:    "Health  and   Efficiency."     (Separate    meetings  for  men  and 

women.) 
Address  to  men:  Dr.  Stephen  A.  Peters. 
Address  to  women:  Dr.  Shelby  Boynton. 

Third  Session,  3:00  p.  m. 

The  Fifteenth  Annual  Mothers'  Meeting.     (In  charge  of  Gate  City  Free 

Kindergarten  Association).     Mrs.  I.  E.  Wynn  presiding. 
Subject:  "The  Kindergarten  and  the  Artisan." 

1.  Address:  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  New  York  City. 

2.  Report  of  the  Treasurer:  Mrs.  Lizzie  Burch. 

3.  Collection. 

4.  Kindergarten  songs,  games  and  exercises  by  one  hundred  and  fifty 

children  of  the  five  free  kindergartens: 
East  Cain  Street— Mrs.  Ola  Perry  Cooke. 
Bradley  Street— Mrs.  Hattie  Sims  Fountain. 
White's  Alley— Mrs.  Idella  F.  Hardin. 
Allen's  Alley — Miss  Willie  Kelley. 
Leonard  Street  Orphanage — Miss  Rosa  Martin. 

Fourth  Session,  8:00  p.  m. 

President  Ware  presiding. 

Subject:  "The  Artisan  and  the  Artisan's  Problems." 

Address:  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  New  York  City. 

Music. 

Address:  Mr.  Alexander  D.  Hamilton,  Atlanta,  (in. 

Discussion. 


Preface 

There  is  only  one  sure  basis  of  social  reform  and  that  is 
Truth — a  careful,  detailed  knowledge  of  the  essential  facts  of 
each  social  problem.  Without  this  there  is  no  logical  starting 
place  for  reform  and  uplift.  Social  difficulties  may  be  clear 
and  we  may  inveigh  against  them,  but  the  causes  proximate 
and  remote  are  seldom  clear  to  the  casual  observer  and  usually 
are  quite  hidden  from  the  man  who  suffers  from,  or  is  sensi- 
tive to,  the  results  of  the  snarl. 

To  no  set  of  problems  are  these  truths  more  applicable  than 
to  the  so-called  Negro  problems.  Perhaps  the  most  immediate 
of  these  problems  is  the  problem  of  work.  To  many  superfi- 
cial men  the  problem  is  simple:  The  Negro  is  lazy;  make  him 
ivork.  Hence  peonage,  vagrancy  laws  and  the  like.  To  other 
men,  broader  minded,  but  unacquainted  with  the  facts,  the 
matter,  while  not  simple,  is  clear:  Negroes  have  a  childish 
ambition  to  do  work  for  ivhich  they  are  not  fitted.  Let  us 
train  them  to  do  ivork  for  ivhich  they  are  fitted. 

This  study  is  an  attempt  to  get  at  the  facts  underlying 
such  widespread  thot  as  this  by  making  a  study  of  the  trained 
Negro  laborer,  his  education,  opportunity,  wages  and  work. 
The  first  attempt  at  this  was  made  in  1902  and  the  results 
appeared  in  No.  7  of  the  Atlanta  University  Publications. 
The  present  study  seeks  to  go  over  virtually  the  same  ground 
after  an  interval  of  ten  years. 

The  study  is,  therefore,  a  further  carrying  out  of  the  plan 
of  social  study  of  the  Negro  American,  by  means  of  an 
annual  series  of  decennially  recurring  subjects  covering,  so 
far  as  is  practicable,  every  phase  of  human  life.  This  plan 
originated  at  Atlanta  University  in  1896.  The  object  of 
these  studies  is  primarily  scientific — a  careful  research  for 


6  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

truth;  conducted  as  thoroly,  broadly  and  honestly  as  the 
material  resources  and  mental  equipment  at  command  will 
allow.  It  must  be  remembered  that  mathematical  accuracy 
in  these  studies  is  impossible;  the  sources  of  information  are 
of  varying  degrees  of  accuracy  and  the  pictures  are  wofully 
incomplete.  There  is  necessarily  much  repetition  in  the  suc- 
cessive studies,  and  some  contradiction  of  previous  reports  by 
later  ones  as  new  material  comes  to  hand.  All  we  claim  is 
that  the  work  is  as  thoro  as  circumstances  permit  and  that 
with  all  its  obvious  limitations  it  is  well  worth  the  doing. 
Our  object  is  not  simply  to  serve  science.  We  wish  not  only 
to  make  the  truth  clear  but  to  present  it  in  such  shape  as  will 
encourage  and  help  social  reform.  In  this  work  we  have 
received  unusual  encouragement  from  the  scientific  world, 
and  the  publisht  results  of  these  studies  are  used  in  America, 
Europe,  Asia  and  Africa.  Very  few  books  on  the  Negro 
problem,  or  any  phase  of  it,  have  been  publisht  in  the  last 
decade  which  have  not  acknowledged  their  indebtedness  to 
our  work. 

We  believe  that  this  pioneer  work  in  a  wide  and  im- 
portant social  field  deserves  adequate  support.  The  Trustees 
of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund  have  given  us  generous  aid  in  the 
last  five  years,  which  aid  has  been  supplemented  by  the  gen- 
eral funds  of  the  University.  These  latter  funds  are  limited, 
however,  and  needed  in  many  other  directions.  What  we 
earnestly  ask  is  an  endowment  for  this  research  work.  A 
fund  yielding  $5,000  a  year  might  under  proper  supervision 
yield  incalculable  good  and  help  the  nation  and  the  modern 
world  to  a  righteous  solution  of  its  problems  of  racial  contact. 


Resolutions 

The  following  resolutions  are  the  expression  of  the  mem- 
bers, delegates  and  attendants  upon  the  sessions  of  the  seven- 
teenth annual  Conference: 

The  Seventeenth  Annual  Atlanta  Conference  has  considered  the 
subject  of  the  Negro  artisan  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  study  of  ten  years 
ago.     We  have  come  to  the  following  conclusions: 

1.  Negro  American  skilled  labor  is  undoubtedly  gaining  ground  both 
North  and  South. 

2.  This  advance  however  is  in  the  face  of  organized  opposition  and 
prejudice.  The  organized  opposition  is  illustrated  by  the  determined 
effort  of  the  white  locomotive  firemen  to  displace  Negro  firemen,  not  for 
inefficiency  or  any  cause  but  race  and  color.  Race  prejudice  is  shown  by 
both  employers  and  laborers  in  every  line  of  skilled  labor  where  the  Negro 
is  seeking  admission.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Miners'  Union  and  in 
some  building  trades  where  the  colored  man  has  an  assured  footing,  he  is 
well  treated  and  is  achieving  economic  independence. 

3.  What,  then,  should  be  the  black  man's  attitude  toward  white 
laborers  and  the  labor  movement?  Seme  people  advise  enmity  and  antag- 
onism. This  is  a  mistake.  The  salvation  of  all  laborers,  white  and  black, 
lies  in  the  great  movement  of  social  uplift  known  as  the  labor  movement 
which  has  increased  wages  and  decreased  hours  of  labor  for  black  as  well 
as  white.  When  the  white  laborer  is  educated  to  understand  economic 
conditions  he  will  outgrow  his  pitiable  race  prejudice  and  recognize  that 
black  men  and  white  men  in  the  labor  world  have  a  common  cause.  Let 
black  men  fight  prejudice  and  exclusion  in  the  labor  world  and  fight  it 
hard;  but  do  not  fight  the  labor  movement. 

We  call  attention  to  the  advantages  derived  by  the  working  class 
from  co-operation  in  every  form  in  which  it  has  been  practiced — in  the 
building  of  homes,  in  buying  the  necessaries  of  life,  in  the  selling  of  farm 
products  and  in  bargaining  for  wages.  We  note  the  gain  made  thru 
teachers'  associations  and  mothers'  clubs,  medical  associations  and  far- 
mers' unions  and  building  and  loan  associations.  We  recommend  to  the 
Negro  American  in  general  and  to  the  Negro  artisan  in  particular  the 
study  of  the  principle  of  association  as  it  has  been  applied  in  other  coun- 
tries as  well  as  our  own. 

4.  Manual  training  and  industrial  and  technical  education  are  great 
needs  of  the  colored  people;  but  the  movement  in  this  line  today,  excellent 


8  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

as  it  is,  is  in  some  respects  deficient.  There  are  points  to  be  remembered 
in  this  connection: 

(1)  Industrial  training  cannot  be  made  a  substitute  for  intelligence. 
The  effort  to  abolish  illiteracy  receives  great  encouragement  from  the 

figures  of  the  thirteenth  census  which  shows  that  from  1870  to  1910  illit- 
eracy among  Negro  Americans  had  been  reduced  from  eighty  per  cent  to 
thirty  per  cent,  while  the  Negro  population  had  more  than  doubled. 

Illiteracy,  however,  is  still  so  extensive  that  we  call  upon  the  govern- 
ment of  city,  state  and  nation  to  work  together  to  provide  sufficient  schools 
for  the  elementary  education  of  all  persons  below  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years.  Of  equal  importance  with  universal  elementary  education  is  the 
need  of  higher  and  technical  education  in  preparation  for  the  professions 
and  industries,  including  the  great  and  fundamental  industry  of  home- 
making.  For  this  education,  also,  the  active  participation  of  city,  state 
and  nation  is  urgently  needed. 

(2)  Technical  training  for  trades  which  are  not  in  economic  demand 
is  not  a  good  investment. 

There  is  an  attempt  in  many  quarters  to  restrict  the  training  of 
Negroes  in  general  intelligence — even  in  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic — 
to  the  narrowest  possible  limits  and  to  substitute  industrial  training.  This 
will  not  make  intelligent  working  men  but  will  encourage  ignorance.  It 
is  not  good  business  to  train  a  race  simply  in  the  poorly  paid,  the  declining 
and  the  undesirable  vocations.     This  will  increase  poverty  and  discontent. 

5.  Finally,  this  Conference  notes  with  pride  and  satisfaction  the 
increase  of  property-holding  among  Negro  Americans,  which  fact  so 
effectually  sets  at  naught  the  familiar  charge  of  laziness  and  inefficiency. 

(Signed)        W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Florence  Kelley,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
A.  G.  Dill,  Atlanta,  Ga. 


A  Select  Bibliography  of  the   Negro  American  Artisan 

Part  I 

Arranged  alphabetically  by  authors 

A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  schools  for  black  people   and  their  descendants, 

established  by  the  Society  of  Friends,  etc.     Phila.,  1857.     32  pp. 
Agricola  (pseudonym).     An  impartial  view  of  the  real  state  of  the  black 

population  in  the  U.  S.,  etc.     Phila.,  1824.     26  pp. 
Allen,  W.  G.     The  American  prejudice  against  color.     London.     107  pp. 

1853. 
Alvord,  J.  W.     Letters  from  the  South  relating  to  the  condition  of  the 
Freedmen,  addressed  to  Gen.   Major  0.  0.  Howard.     Washington, 
1870.     42  pp. 
America's  Race  Problems.     N.  Y.,  1901.     187  pp. 

Atlanta  University  Publications:  No.  2:     Social  and  physical  condition  of 
Negroes  in  cities.     1897.     72,  14  pp. 
No.  3.     Some  efforts  of  American  Negroes  for  their  own  social  better- 
ment.    1898.      (2)  66  pp. 
No.  4.     The  Negro  in  Business.     1899.      (3)  77pp. 
No.  5.     The  College-bred  Negro.     1900.      (2) ,  115  (3)  pp. 
No.  6.     The  Negro  Common  School,  etc.     1901.     ii,  (2),  120  pp. 
No.  7.     The  Negro  Artisan.     1902.     192  pp. 

No.  9.     Notes  on  Negro  Crime,  Particularly  in  Georgia.     1904.     68  pp. 
No.  12.     Economic  Co-operation  among  Negro  Americans.     184  pp. 

1907. 
No.  13.     The  Negro  American  Family.     152  pp.     1908. 
No.  14.     Efforts  for  Social  Betterment  among  Negro  Americans.     136 

pp.     1909. 
No.  15.     The  College-bred  Negro  American.     104  pp.     1910. 
No.  16.     The  Common  School  and  the  Negro  American.     140  pp.     1911. 
Bacon,  Benjamin  C.      Statistics  of  the  colored   people  of    Philadelphia, 
taken  by  and  published  by  order  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  the  Abolition  of  Slavery. 
Philadelphia,  1856.     Seconded.     Phila.,  1859.     24  pp. 
Baker,  Ray  Stannard.     Following  the  Color-line.     New  York,  1908. 
Banks,  Chas.     Negro  Town  and  Colony.     Mound  Bayou,  Miss.     10  pp. 
Barringer,  Dr.  Paul.     The  American  Negro:  his  past  and  future.     Raleigh, 

1900.     23  pp. 
Bassett,  John  S.     Slavery  and  Servitude  in  the  Colony  of  South  Carolina. 
Johns  Hopkins  Press,  Baltimore,  1896. 
Slavery  and  Servitude  in  the  Colony  of  North  Carolina.     Bait.,  1896. 

86  pp.     Series  14.  No.  4,  5.     Authorities  cited,  p.  3. 
History  of  Slavery  in  North  Carolina.     Johns   Hopkins    University 
Studies.     Bait.,  1899.     Ill  pp.     Studies  in  historical  and  political 
science.     Authorities,  pp.  110-111.     Series  17,  No.  7,  8. 


1  0  The  Negro  American   Artisan 

Blair,  Lewis  H.     The  prosperity  of  the  South  dependent  upon  the  eleva- 
vation  of  the  Negro.     Richmond,  Va.,  1889.     147  pp. 

Boas,  Franz.     Commencement  Address  at  Atlanta  University,  May,  1906. 
Atlanta  University  Leaflet,  No.  19.     15  pp. 

Brackett,  Jeffrey  Richardson.  The  Negro  in  Maryland.  A  study  of  the 
institution  of  slavery.  Bait.,  1889.  (5)  268  pp.  (Johns  Hopkins 
University  Studies,  extra  vol.  6). 
The  status  of  the  slave,  1775-1789.  (Essay  V.  in  Jameson's  Essays 
in  the  constitutional  history  of  the  United  States,  1775-1789) .  Bos- 
ton, 1889.  Pp.  263-311. 
Notes  on  the  progress  of  the  colored  people  of  Maryland  since  the 
war;  a  supplement  to  the  "Negro  in  Maryland:  a  study  of  the  in- 
stitution of  slavery."     Johns  Hopkins  Press,  Bait.,  1890.     Pp.  96. 

Brousseau,  Kate.     L'education  des  Negres  aux  Etats-unis.     Paris,  1904. 
396,  (1)  pp. 

Brown,  Frederick  John.     The  northward  movement  of  the  colored  popu- 
lation.    A  statistical  study.     Bait.,  1897.     50  pp. 

Brown,  H.  M.     A  plea  for  industrial  education  among  the  colored  people. 
New  York,  1884.     30  pp. 

Bruce,  P.  A.     Economic  History  of  Virginia  in  the  17th  century.     New 
York,  2  vol.     1896. 
The  plantation  Negro  as  a  freeman.     New  York,  1889.     262  pp. 

Bruce,  Roscoe  Conkling.     Service  by  the  educated  Negro.    Tuskegee,  1903. 
17  pp. 

Bruce,  W.  Cabell.     The  Negro  problem.     Bait.,  1891.     33  pp. 

Buckingham,  J.  S.     Slave  States  of  America.     London,  1842. 

Buecher,  Carl.     Industrial  Evolution.     Translated  byS.  M.  Wickett,  New 
York,  1904.     393  pp. 

Bumstead,  Horace.     Higher  education  of  the  Negro,  its  practical  value. 
Atlanta,  1870.     15  pp. 

Cable,  George  Washington.     The  Negro  Question.     New  York,  1888,  32 
pp.     New  York,  1890.     173  pp. 

Campbell,  Robert  F.     Some  aspects  of  the  race  problem  in  the  South. 
Pamphlet,  1899.     Asheville,  N.  C.     31  pp. 

Chandler,  J.  W.     This  is  a  white  working-man's  government      Washing- 
ton, 1866.     14  pp.     U.  t.  p. 

Cincinnati  Convention  of  Colored  Freedmen  of  Ohio,  Proceedings,  Jan.  14- 
19,  1852.     Cincinnati,  1852. 

Colored  People's  Blue  Book  and  Business  Directory  of  Chicago,  111.     1905. 

Commons,  John  R.  et  al.     Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial 
Society.     10  Vols.     Cleveland,  1910. 

Condition  of  the  people  of  color  in  Ohio.      With    interesting   anecdotes. 
Boston,  L839.     42  pp. 

Cooley,  II.  S.     Slavery  in  New  Jersey.    Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies. 
Bait.,  L896.     60  pp.     Series  11.     Bibliography,  pp.  59,  60." 

Crisis,  The.     Organ  of  the  National  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Colored  People.     Now  York,  1910  et  seq. 


Bibliography  1  1 

Curry,  J.  L.  M.     Education  of  Negroes  since  1860.     Bait,  1894.     32  pp. 
J.  F.  Slater  Fund  Papers. 
Difficulties,  complications  and  limitations  connected  with  the  educa- 
tion of  the  Negro.      (Trustees  of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund.     Occa- 
sional papers,  No.  5.)     Bait,  1895.     Pp.  23. 

De  Bow,  J.  D.  B.  Industrial  resources  of  the  southern  and  western 
states.     New  Orleans,  1852-1853. 

Denniker,  J.     The  Races  of  Man.     New  York,  1904.     611  pp. 

Douglass,  H.  Paul.  Christian  Reconstruction  in  the  South.  Boston,  1909. 
407  pp. 

Dowd,  Jerome.     The  Negro  Races.     New  York,  1907.     491  pp. 

Du  Bois,  W.  E.  B.     The  Negro  in  the  black  belt:    Some  Social  Sketches. 
In  the  Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  No.  22. 
The  Philadelphia  Negro.     Phila.,  1896.     520  pp. 
The  Negroes  of  Farmville,  Va.     U.  S.  Dept  of  Labor  Bulletin,  Jan., 

1898.     Vol.  Ill,  No.  14.     Pp.  1-38.     Washington. 
The  Study  of  the  Negro  Problems.     Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

of  Political  Science.     Phila.,  1898.     29  pp. 
The  Negro  land-holders  of  Ga.     U.  S.  Dept.  of  Labor  Bulletin,  No. 

35,  1901.     Pp.  647-777.     Washington. 
The  relation  of  the  Negroes  and  Whites  in  the  South.     Phila.,  1901. 
Souls  of  Black  Folk.     Chicago,  1903.     264  (1)  pp. 
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12  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

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Education  of  Negroes.     K.  Miller.     39:117. 
American  Journal  of  Sociology: 

The  Negro  Artisan.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.     8:854-6. 
Industrial   reorganization  in  Alabama   after  the  Civil  War.     W.  L. 
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American  Missionary:     56  vol.     1856-1912. 
American  Statistical  Association,  Publications  of:     American  Negroes. 

M.  M.  Dawson.     5:142. 
Andover  Review: 

Negroes  at  school.     Horace  Bumstead.     4:550. 
Education  of  Negroes.     A.  Salisbury.     6:256. 
Industrial  education  of  Negroes.     14:254. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  Science: 
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Study  of  Negro  problems.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.     11:1. 
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Relation  of  the  Whites  to  the  Negroes  in  the  South.    W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois. 
L8:121-40. 
iution  of  Negro  labor.     C.  ECelsey.     21:55-76. 
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Bibliography  1  7 

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Arena: 

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The  race  problem  of  Negroes.     Wade  Hampton.     2:132. 

Progress  of  the  Negro.     G.  W.  Forbes.     2:134-41. 

The  race  problem  of  Negroes.     J.  T.  Morgan.     2:385. 

The  race  problem  of  Negroes.     W.  S.  Scarborough.     2:560. 

Negroes  in  the  United  States.     N.  S.  Shaler.     2:660. 

Educational  possibilities  of  Negroes.     B.  T.  Washington.     21:455. 
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The  Free'dmen  of  Port  Royal.     Edward  L.  Pierce.     12:291. 

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Awakening  of  the  Negro.     78:322. 

Strivings  of  the  Negro  people.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.     80:194. 

Training  of  Black  Men.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.     90:289-97. 

Fruits  of  industrial  training.     B.  T.  Washington.     92:453-62. 
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Catholic  World: 

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Present  and  future  conditions  of  Negroes  in   the  United  States.     J. 
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Negroes  in  Baltimore.     J.  R.  Slattery.     66:519. 
Century: 

Signs  of  progress  among  Negroes.     B.  T.  Washington.     37:472. 

Industrial  color  line  in  the  North.     J.  S.  Stemons.     60:477. 
Charities: 

The  Negro  in  the  cities  of  the  North.     15:1. 

Kowaliga,  a  community  with  a  purpose.     W.  E.  Benson.     15:22-<±. 

Industrial  conditions  among  Negro  men  in  Boston.    J.  Daniels.    15:35-9. 

Negro  in  times  of  industrial  unrest.     R.  R.  Wright,  Jr.     15:69-73. 

Manual  training  for  Negro  children.     D.  E.  Gordon.     15:84. 
Christian  Examiner:  Freedman  and  free  labor  at  the  South.     76:344. 


18  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Conservative  Review:     Social  condition  of  the  Negroes  before  the  war 

3:211. 
Contemporary: 

The  race  problem  of  Negroes.     G.  W.  Cable.     53:443. 

American  Negro  of  today.     P.  A.  Bruce.     77:284. 
Cosmopolitan:     Problems  in  education.     B.  T.  Washington.     33:506. 
Crisis,  The.     Organ  of  the  National  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 

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32:85. 
DeBow's  Review: 

Importation  of  African  laborers.     24:421. 

The  South  demands  more  Negro  labor.     E.  Deloney.     25:491. 
Education: 

Industrial  education  of  Negroes.     W.  P.  Johnston.     5:636. 

Education  of  Negroes.     C.  G.  Andrews.     6:221. 
Educational  Review: 

New  education  in  the  South.     P.  B.  Barringer.     21:233. 

Education  of  the  Negro  in  its  historical  aspects.     D.  L.  Kiehle.    27:299. 

Social  and  industrial  capacities  of  Negroes  of  the  South.     45:383. 

Negro  apprenticeship  system.     J.  Spedding.     66:477.     ■ 
Forum: 

Progress  of  the  Negroes  of  the  South.     A.  D.  Mayo.     10:335. 

The  Negro  and  Education.     K.  Miller.     30:693. 
Gunton's  Magazine: 

Coleman  cotton  mill.     Sept.,  1902. 

Colored  men  as  cotton  manufacturers.     J.  Dowd.     23:254-6. 

Negro  as  an  artisan.     24:452. 

Georgia  State  Industrial  College  for  Negroes.     L.  B.  Ellis.     25:218-26. 
Harper's  Weekly: 

Georgia  race  strike.     53:5. 

Georgia  strike  arbitration.     July  3,  1909. 
Independent: 

Industrial  education  for  the  African.  J.E.Rankin.  April  2,  1891.  43:3. 

Condition  of  the  Negro:  What  he  is  doing  for  himself  and  what  is 
being  done  for  him.  Testimony  from  both  races.  (A  symposium). 
43:477. 

Negro  manual  training  experiment  in  Texas.     47:5552. 

Industrial  training.     W.  E.  Hutchison.     58:92-4. 
International  Monthly:     American  Negro  and  his  economic  value.     B.  T. 
Washington.     2:672-86. 

Negro  as  an  industrial  factor.     2:672. 
International  Review:     Negro  exodus  (1879).     7:373. 
Lippincott:     Industrial  question.     59:266. 
Manufacturers'  Record:     Colored  help  for  textile  mills.     (  Baltimore,  Md.) , 

Sept.  22,  is-.):;. 
Methodist  Quarterly:     Negro  exodus  (1879).     39:722. 


Bibliography  1 9 

Missionary  Review: 

What   industrial    training  is    doing  for  the  Negro.     H.  B.  Frissell. 
27:574-8. 

What  intellectual  training  is  doing  for  the  Negro.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois. 
27:578-82. 
Nation: 

Negro  exodus  (1879).     28:242,  386. 

Negro  labor  in  Southern  manufactures.     53:208. 

Negro  and  the  trade  unions.     76:186. 

Rural  industrial  school.     88:401-2. 
N.   Ecclesiastical    Review:      Freedmen   and    Southern    labor    problems. 

3:257. 
New  World:     Education  of  Negroes.     9:625. 
New  York  Times:     The  black  North.      (Studies  of  Negroes  in  Northern 

cities).     1901. 
North  American  Review:     Negro  as  a  mechanic.     156:472. 
Our  Day:     Industrial  education  of  Negroes.     B.T.Washington.     16:79. 
Outlook : 

Negroes  an  industrial  factor.     C.  B.  Spahr.     62:31. 

Negro  cotton  mill.     67:468. 

Savings  of  black  Georgia.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.     69:128-30. 

Negro  in  business.     J.  T.  Montgomery.     69:733-4. 

Aims  of  Negro  education.     H.  B.  Frissell.     74:937-9. 

Training  of  Negroes  for  social  power.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.     75:409-14. 

Negro  enterprise.     B.  T.  Washington.     77:115-8. 

Helping  the  Negro  to  help  himself.     C.  C,  Smith.     78:727-30. 

Economic  future  of  the  Negro.     82:102-3. 

New  phase  of    industrial    education.      Kowaliga.      J.    C.    Barrows. 
83:896-8. 

Work  and  education.     88:526-7. 

Forced  labor  in  America  and  the  Alabama  contract  law.     90:846-8. 

Definite  progress  among  Negroes.     92:770-1. 

Georgia  Railroad  strike.     92:310-2. 
Political  Science  Quarterly: 

Negro  artisan.     9:699-701. 

Slave    labor    problem    in   the    Charleston    district.      U.    B.    Phillips. 
22:416-39. 

Local  study  of  the  race  problem  in  Georgia.     R.  P.  Brooks.    26:193-221. 
Popular  Science  Monthly: 

Negro  artisan.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.     19:699-701. 

Negro  since  the  Civil  War.     N.  S.  Shaler.     57:29-39. 
Public  Opinion:     Knights  of  Labor  and  Negroes.     2:1. 
Review  of  Reviews:     Negro  progress  on   the    Tuskegee    plan.      Albert 
Shaw.     9:436. 

American  Negro  at  Paris.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.     22:575-7. 
Science:    Industrial  training  and  the  Negro  problem  in  the  United  States. 
E.  L.  Blackshear.     23:606-7. 


20  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

Scribners:     Negroes  of  the  South  under  free  labor.     D.  C.  Barrows,  Jr. 

21:830. 
Slater  Fund: 

Proceedings  and  occasional  papers  of. 
No.  3.     Education  of  Negroes  since  1860.     Curry. 
Proceedings  and  occasional  papers  of.     No.  6. 
Occupations  of  Negroes.     Gannett. 
South  Atlantic  Quarterly:     Industrial  development  in  Alabama  during  the 

Civil  War.     W.  L.  Flemings.     3:260. 
Southern  Workman: 

Industrial  training  and  the  race  question.     E.  L.  Blackshear.     July, 

1906. 
The  industrial  opportunity  for  Negroes  in  Philadelphia.     J.  B.  Leeds. 

July,  1911. 
Some  labor  tendencies  in  the  South.     G.  S.  Dickerman.     Oct.,  1907. 
Industrial    condition   of   Negro   women   in    New  York.      Samuel  H. 

Bishop.     Sept.,  1910. 
The  Negro  in  Chicago.     R.  R.  Wright,  Jr.     Oct.,  1906. 
Value  of  educating  the  Negro.     B.  T.  Washington.     Oct.,  1904. 
Local  conditions  among  Negroes  in  four  counties  of  Georgia.     W.  T. 

B.  Williams.     Nov.,  1906. 
Negro  craftsmen  in  New  York.     Helen  A.  Tucker.     Oct.,  Nov.,  1907. 
New  York  Negro  Colony.     M.  W.  Ovington.     Nov.,  1909. 
Pleas  for  Negro  trade  schools  in  cities.     R.  C.  Bruce.     Dec,  1904. 
Relation  of  industrial  education  to  the  economic  progress  of  the  South. 

T.J.Jones.     Dec,  1908. 
The  Negro  in  Gloucester  county,  Virginia.     W.  T.  B.  Williams.     Feb., 

1906. 
Economic  progress  of  the  South.     T.  J.  Jones.     March,  1909. 
Forty  years  of  Negro  progress.     R.  R.  Wright,  Jr.     March,  1907. 
Place  of  industrial  training  in  higher  Negro  education.     W.  E.  Hutch- 
ison.    April,  1906. 
Relation  of    industrial    education   to    the    nation's  progress.     B.  T. 

Washington.     April,  1908. 
Industrial  education  in  schools  of  Columbus.     C.  B.  Gibson.     May,  1908. 
Spectator: 

Capacity  of  Negroes.     75:927. 
Progress  among  Negroes.     63:852. 
Tradesman  (Chattanooga,  Tenn.) : 
Negro  labor.     July  15,  1889. 
Negro  labor.     July  20,  1891. 

The  Negro  skilled  laborer  in  the  South.     Oct.  15,  1902. 
World's  Work: 

Negro  as  he  really  is.     W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.     2:848-66. 

Successful  training  of  the  Negro.      B.  T.  Washington.     6:3731-61. 

Georgia  Negroes  and  their  fifty  millions  of  savings.    W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois. 

18:11550-4. 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Section  1.     Scope  of  the  Inquiry 

In  1902  Atlanta  University  made  a  study  of  the  Negro 
artisan.  Ten  years  later  we  come  back  to  the  same  study, 
with  a  desire  to  ascertain  the  present  condition  of  the  Negro 
American  artisan,  to  inquire  into  his  training  and  experience, 
and  to  set  forth  in  positive,  scientific  statements  the  actual 
economic  and  social  conditions  of  this  important  group  of 
American  citizens, — their  problems  and  their  prospects.  The 
present  investigation  is  based  upon  the  following  data  in  ad- 
dition to  other  miscellaneous  sources: 

1.  Studies  of  African  life. 

2.  Ante-bellum  American  historical  studies. 

3.  Local  studies. 

4.  The  Reports  of  the  Census  Department  of  the  United 
States. 

5.  The  catalogs  of  Negro  institutions. 

6.  Replies  to  the  following  general  questionnaire  sent  to 
interested  citizens  thruout  the  United  States: 

Dear  Friend: 

Atlanta  University  is  making  a  study  of  the  Negro  Artisan.  Will 
you  kindly  answer  the  following  questions  and  return  the  blank  to  us  at 
your  earliest  convenience? 

1.  Name  of  place State 

2.  Are  there  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here? 

3.  What  trades  do  they  follow  chiefly? 

4.  Is  the  Negro  gaining  or  losing  as  a  skilled  laborer?     Why  so? 

5.  What  results  can  you  see  of  industrial  school  training? 

6.  Are  young  men  entering  the  trades? 

7.  What  success  are  the  Negro  artisans  in  your  community  having? 

8.  Will  you  kindly  write  on  the  other  side  of  this  paper  the  names 
and  addresses  and  trades  of  all  the  Negro  artisans  in  your  city  or  town? 
Your  name  and  address. 


Note.  — An  Artisan  is  a  skilled  laborer— a  person  who  works  with  his  hands  but  has  at- 
tained a  degree  of  skill  and  efficiency  above  that  of  an  ordinary  manual  laborer— as,  for 
instance,  carpenters,  masons,  engineers,  blacksmiths,  etc.  Omit  barbers,  ordinary  laborers 
in  factories,  who  do  no  skilled  work,  etc. 


22  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

7.  Replies  to  the  following  questionnaire  sent  to  the  heads 
of  Negro  institutions: 

Dear  Friend: 

Atlanta  University  is  making  a  study  of  the  Negro  Artisan.  Will  you 
kindly  answer  the  following  questions  and  return  the  blank  to  us  at  your 
earliest  convenience? 

1.  Name  of  institution. 

2.  Address. 

3.  How  many  of  your  graduates  or  former  students  are  earning  a 
living  entirely  as  artisans? 

4.  How  many  of  the  above  mentioned  are:  Carpenters,  blacksmiths, 
brickmakers,  masons,  engineers,  firemen,  dressmakers,  iron  and  steel 
workers,  shoemakers,  painters,  plasterers,  coopers,  tailors? 

5.  Where  are  most  of  these  artisans  located  at  present? 

6.  How  many  of  the  rest  of  your  graduates  or  former  students  are 
earning  a  living  partially  as  artisans? 

7.  What  trades  and  other  work  do  they  usually  combine? 

8.  What  difficulties  do  your  graduates  meet  in  obtaining  work  as 
artisans? 

9.  Do  they  usually  join  trades  unions? 

10.  How  many  of  them  teach  industries  in  schools? 

11.  Will  you  kindly  furnish  us  with  a  list  of  your  graduates  from 
industrial  courses,  with  occupations  and  present  addresses? 

8.  Replies  to  the  following  questionnaire  sent  to  Negro 
Artisans: 

Dear  Friend: 

For  several  years  past  Atlanta  University  has  made  an  annual  study 
of  some  phase  of  Negro  life  in  America.  The  results  of  these  studies 
have  been  published  in  book  form  and  have  received  the  attention  of 
thinking  people  thruout  the  civilized  world.  In  this  way  we  have  been 
able,  we  believe,  to  help  the  entire  Negro  race.  This  year  the  University 
is  making  a  study  of  the  Negro  Artisan.  Your  name  has  been  sent  to  us 
as  one  of  the  leading  artisans  in  your  community.  Will  you  kindly  answer 
the  following  questions  and  return  the  blank  to  us  at  your  earliest  conve- 
nience?    By  so  doing  you  will  greatly  help  this  work. 

1.  Name? 

2.  Address? 

3.  Age?     Sex? 

4.  Married,  single,  widowed  or  divorced? 

5.  Trade? 


Scope  of  the  Inquiry  23 

6.  (a)   Do  you  work  for  yourself? 

Do  you  own  your  own  tools? 
Do  you  hire  other  workers? 
What  is  your  average  income? 
(b)  Do  you  work  for  wages? 
What  wages  do  you  receive? 
Time  unoccupied  per  year? 

What  wages  do  the  whites  receive    for  the  same  kind  of 
work? 

7.  How  did  you  learn  your  trade? 

8.  Did  you  attend  a  trade  school? 
How  long? 

Where? 

9.  Do  you  belong  to  a  trade  union? 
If  so,  what  union? 

Do  whites  belong? 

Can  you  join  with  the  whites? 

If  you  do  not  belong  to  a  union,  why  not? 

10.  Do  you  work  with  whites? 

Do  you  work  chiefly  for  whites  or  for  Negroes? 
What  is  the  feeling  between  the  white  and  colored  workers  in 
your  trade? 

11.  Education:     Common  school?     Higher  training? 

12.  Do  you  own  real  estate? 

13.  Are  the  conditions  for  the  Negro  skilled  worker  growing  better? 

Why? 

14.  Remarks. 

9.  Study  of  Negro  skilled  labor,  thru  employer  and  em- 
ployee. 

10.  Study  of  the  relation  of  the  Negro  artisan  to  organized 
labor  in  the  United  States.  This  study  was  made  by  means 
of  a  blank  questionnaire  sent  to  labor  organizations,  national, 
state  and  local,  thruout  the  country. 


The  statements  of  present  conditions  which  are  made  in 
these  pages  under  the  various  state  headings  are  taken  from 
the  replies  of  interested  friends  and  correspondents  of  the 
Atlanta  Conference,  both  North  and  South.  The  Negro  arti- 
sans themselves  have  also  contributed  much  valuable  infor- 
mation concerning  local  conditions. 


24  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Section  2.     The  African  Artisan 

A  Select  African  Bibliography 

Africanus,  Leo:     "Geographical  Historie  of  Africa."     London,  1600. 

Barth,  Heinrich:     "Travels  and  Discoveries  in  the  North  and  Central  Africa." 

New  York,  1859. 
Bowen:     "Missionary  Labor  in  Africa."     Charleston,  1857. 
Deniker:     "The  Races  of  Man."     London,  1900. 
Dowd,  Jerome:     "The  Negro  Races."     New  York,  1937. 
Featherman:     "Social  History   of  the   Races  of  Mankind.     Nigritians,  etc." 

London,  1887. 
Kingsley:     "Travels  in  West  Africa."     London,  1900. 

"West  African  Studies."     London,  1901. 
Livingstone:     "Missionary  Travels  and  Researches  in  South  Africa."     New 

York,  1858. 
Park:     "Life  and  Travels."     New  York,  1858. 
Quatrefages:     "The  Pygmies."     New  York,  1895. 
Ratzel:     "The  History  of  Mankind."     3  Vols.     London,  1897. 
Reclus:     "The  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants."     New  York,  1892. 
Rohlfs:     "Reise  von  Mittelmeer  noch  dem  Tschad-See  und  Golf  von  Guinea." 

Leipzig,  1875. 
Schweinfurth:     "The  Heart  of  Africa."     New  York,  1874. 
Stanley:     "In  Darkest  Africa."     New  York,  1890. 

Staudinger:     "Im  Herzen  der  Haussa  Lander."     Oldenburg  and  Leipzig,  1891. 
Stuhlmann:     "Mit  Emin  Pasha  ins  Herz  von  Africa."     Berlin,  1894. 

A  study  of  the  Negro  American  artisan  quite  naturally 
begins  with  the  entrance  of  the  Negro  into  American  life. 
Twelve  years  after  the  founding  of  Jamestown  in  Virginia 
and  one  year  prior  to  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth, 
the  first  cargo  of  Negro  slaves  was  brot  to  the  American  con- 
tinent. Sold  to  the  settlers  in  the  Virginia  colony,  these  Ne- 
groes joined  in  the  work  of  building  the  nation,  a  work  which 
demanded  both  brain  and  brawn.  Endowed  with  physical 
strength,  this  new  American  group  was  no  mean  asset  to  the 
economic  forces  of  the  new  world,  considered  especially  in  the 
light  of  the  strenuous  demands  of  the  strenuous  period. 

What  had  been  the  experience  of  the  members  of  this 
group,  so  rapidly  increasing  by  birth  and  by  the  activities  of 
slave-catcher  and  slave-trader?  Had  there  been  anything  in 
the  African  life  which  would  render  the  Negroes  capable  of 
taking  a  part  in  the  building  of  homes,  the  acquiring  of  wealth, 
the  developing  of  the  new  land,  the  building  of  the  nation? 
Is  there  any  evidence  of  mechanical  skill  among  the  African 
natives?  A  glimpse  into  African  life  may  help  us  to  answer 
these  questions;  for  among  the  Pygmies,  the  Hottentots,  the 


The  African  Artisan  25 

Bushmen,  the  Ashantis  and  in  practically  all  parts  of  the  con- 
tinent of  Africa,  we  find  concrete  evidences  of  that  ability 
which  makes  for  artisanship. 

While  the  Pygmies,  still  living  in  the  age  of  wood,  make 
no  iron  or  stone  implements,  they  seem  to  know  how  to  make 
bark  cloth  and  fibre  baskets  and  simple  outfits  for  hunting 
and  fishing.  Among  the  Bushmen  the  art  of  making  weapons 
and  working  in  hides  is  quite  common.  The  Hottentots  are 
further  advanced  in  the  industrial  arts,  being  well  versed  in 
the  manufacture  of  clothing,  weapons  and  utensils.  In  the 
dressing  of  skins  and  furs  as  well  as  in  the  plaiting  of  cords 
and  the  weaving  of  mats  we  find  evidences  of  their  work- 
manship. In  addition,  they  are  good  workers  in  iron  and 
copper,  using  the  skeepskin  bellows  for  this  purpose.  The 
Ashantis  of  the  "Gold  Coast"  know  how  to  make  "cotton 
fabrics,  turn  and  glaze  earthenware,  forge  iron,  fabricate 
instruments  and  arms,  embroider  rugs  and  carpets,  and  set 
gold  and  precious  stones. "J  Among  the  people  of  the  banana 
zone  we  find  rough  basket  work,  coarse  pottery,  grass  cloth, 
and  spoons  made  of  wood  and  ivory.  The  people  of  the  mil- 
let zone,  because  of  uncertain  agricultural  resources,  quite 
generally  turn  to  manufacturing.  Charcoal  is  prepared  by 
the  smiths,  iron  is  smelted  and  numerous  implements  are 
manufactured.  Among  them  we  find  axes,  hatchets,  hoes, 
knives,  nails,  scythes  and  other  hardware.  Cloaks,  shoes, 
sandals,  shields  and  water  and  oil  vessels  are  made  from 
leather  which  the  natives  have  dressed.  Soap  is  manufac- 
tured in  the  Bautschi  district,  glass  is  melted,  formed  and 
colored  by  the  people  of  Nupeland,  and  in  almost  every  city 
cotton  is  spun  and  woven  and  dyed.  Barth  tells  us  that  the 
weaving  of  cotton  was  known  in  the  Sudan  as  early  as  the 
eleventh  century.  There  is  also  extensive  manufacture  of 
wooden  ware,  tools,  implements  and  utensils. 

Leo  Africanus  writing  of  Timbuctu  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury said:  "It  is  a  woonder  to  see  what  plentie  of  Merchandize 
is  dayly  brought  hither  and  how  costly   and  sumptuous  all 


1  Reclus:  "The  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants,"  Vol.  3,  p.  241. 


26  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

things  be Here  are  many  shops  of  artificers  and 

merchants  and  especially  of  such  as  weave  linnen  and  cloth."1 

Kuka,  on  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Tchad,  and  Sokoto,  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  empire  of  the  same  name,  are 
the  principal  manufacturing  centers  of  this  district.  Here 
cotton  is  spun  and  woven  into  cloth;  skins  are  tanned  and 
manufactured  into  boots,  shoes  and  saddles;  and  implements, 
ornaments  and  tools  are  wrot  of  iron. 
^\  Thruout  the  continent  of  Africa  we  find  evidences  of  the 
industrial  ability  of  the  natives.  Anthropologist  and  geolo- 
gist, scientist  and  man  of  letters,  alike  record  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  African  people  along  this  line. 

The  industries  of  the  native  Africans  were  greatly  dis- 
turbed during  the  activities  of  the  slave  trade.  Dowd  in  his 
sociological  study,  "The  Negro  Races,"  says: 

During  the  activities  of  the  slave  trade  there  was  a  noticeable  de- 
cline in  native  manufactures  thruout  Africa,  especially  along  the  coast 
regions.  The  natives  gave  up  to  a  large  extent  their  primitive  industries 
and  depended  upon  the  sale  of  slaves  as  a  means  of  supplying  what  they 
wanted  in  the  line  of  manufactured  goods.2  ....  During  the  flour- 
ishing days  of  slave  exportation  to  America,  the  industrial  arts  declined 
as  well  as  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  One  of  the  effects  of  the  contact 
with  European  peoples  and  products  was  at  first  to  cause  the  natives  to 
imitate  the  articles  of  foreign  manufacture,  such  as  glass  and  gunpowder, 
and  but  for  the  slave  trade  and  other  mistaken  policies  of  the  white  man 
which  disorganized  the  whole  economic  life  of  the  natives  there  is  no  tell- 
ing what  strides  would  have  been  made  in  all  lines  of  industry.  Since 
the  abolition  of  the  external  slave  trade,  the  revival  of  industrial  activi- 
ties among  the  people  of  the  Sudan  has  been  hindered  by  the  wars  between 
the  pastoral  Fellatahs  and  native  blacks. :! 

Dr.  Franz  Boas,  whose  knowledge  of  man  has  been  a 
source  of  inspiration  to  many  a  social  reformer,  in  speaking 
of  the  African  Negro,  says: 

The  achievements  of  races  are  not  only  what  they  have  done  during 
the  short  span  of  two  thousand  years,  when  with  rapidly  increasing  num- 
bers the  total  amount  of  mental  work  accumulated  at  an  ever  increasing 
rate.  In  this  the  European,  the  Chinaman,  the  East  Indian,  have  far 
outstripped  other  races.  But  back  of  this  period  lies  the  time  when  man- 
kind struggled  with  the  elements,  when  every  small  advance  that  seems 

'Africanus:    "Geographical  Historic  of  Africa,"  pp.  2S7-29). 
2 Dowd:  The  Nearro  Races,  Vol.  1,  p.  94.  ■■ll>i<l.     P.     108. 


The  African  Artisan  27 

to  us  now  insignificant  was  an  achievement  of  the  highest  order,  as  great 
as  the  discovery  of  steam  power  or  of  electricity,  if  not  greater.  It  may 
well  be,  that  these  early  inventions  were  made  hardly  consciously,  cer- 
tainly not  by  deliberate  effort,  yet  every  one  of  them  represents  a  giant's 
stride  forward  in  the  development  of  human  culture.  To  these  early  ad- 
vances the  Negro  race  has  contributed  its  liberal  share.  While  much  of 
the  history  of  early  invention  is  shrouded  in  darkness,  it  seems  likely  that 
at  a  time  when  the  European  was  still  satisfied  with  rude  stone  tools,  the 
African  had  invented  or  adopted  the  art  of  smelting  iron. 

Consider  for  a  moment  what  this  invention  has  meant  for  the  advance 
of  the  human  race.  As  long  as  the  hammer,  knife,  saw,  drill,  the  spade 
and  the  hoe  had  to  be  chipped  out  of  stone,  or  had  to  be  made  of  shell  or 
hard  wood,  effective  industrial  work  was  not  impossible,  but  difficult.  A 
great  progress  was  made  when  copper  found  in  large  nuggets  was  ham- 
mered out  into  tools  and  later  on  shaped  by  melting,  and  when  bronze 
was  introduced;  but  the  true  advancement  of  industrial  life  did  not  begin 
until  the  hard  iron  was  discovered.  It  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  people 
that  made  the  marvelous  discovery  of  reducing  iron  ores  by  smelting 
were  the  African  Negroes.  Neither  ancient  Europe,  nor  ancient  western 
Asia,  nor  ancient  China  knew  the  iron,  and  everything  points  to  its  intro- 
duction from  Africa.  At  the  time  of  the  great  African  discoveries  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  past  century,  the  trade  of  the  blacksmith  was  found 
all  over  Africa,  from  north  to  south  and  from  east  to  west.  With  his 
simple  bellows  and  a  charcoal  fire  he  reduced  the  ore  that  is  found  in 
many  parts  of  the  continent  and  forged  implements  of  great  usefulness 

and  beauty Nothing,  perhaps,  is  more  encouraging  than  a 

glimpse  of  the  artistic  industry  of  native  Africa.  I  regret  that  we  have 
no  place  in  this  country  where  the  beauty  and  daintiness  of  African  work 
can  be  shown;  but  a  walk  thru  the  African  museums  of  Paris,  London 
and  Berlin  is  a  revelation.  I  wish  you  could  see  the  scepters  of  African 
kings,  carved  of  hardwood  and  representing  artistic  forms;  or  the  dainty 
basketry  made  by  the  people  of  the  Kongo  river  and  of  the  region  near 
the  great  lakes  of  the  Nile;  or  the  grass  mats  with  their  beautiful  pat- 
terns. Even  more  worthy  of  our  admiration  is  the  work  of  the  black- 
smith, who  manufactures  symmetrical  lance  heads  almost  a  yard  long,  or 
axes  inlaid  with  copper  and  decorated  with  filigree.  Let  me  also  mention 
in  passing  the  bronze  castings  of  Benin  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa, 
which,  altho  perhaps  due  to  Portuguese  influences,  have  so  far  excelled 
in  technique  any  European  work,  that  they  are  even  now  almost  inimita- 
ble.    In  short,  wherever  you  look,  you  find  a  thrifty  people,  full  of  energy, 

capable  of  forming  large  states In  place  of  indolence  you 

find  thrift  and  ingenuity,  and  application  to  occupations  that  require  not 
only  industry,  but  also  inventiveness  and  a  high  degree  of  technical  skill.1 


'Atlanta  University  Leaflet,  No.  19. 


28  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Section  3.     The  Ante=bellum  Negro  Artisan 

The  Negro  slave  was  the  artisan  of  the  South  before  the 
war.  Both  on  the  plantation  and  in  the  towns  and  cities  there 
was  a  constant  demand  for  his  service.  While  the  average 
workmanship  was  low  and  suited  only  to  rough  plantation  life, 
it  is  nevertheless  true  that  on  many  of  the  better  plantations 
and  in  many  of  the  towns  and  cities  there  were  first-class 
Negro  skilled  workmen. 

Prior  to  the  war  there  were  a  large  number  of  Negro  mechanics  in 
the  southern  states;  many  of  them  were  expert  blacksmiths,  wheel- 
wrights, wagon-makers,  brick-masons,  carpenters,  plasterers,  painters 
and  shoemakers.  They  became  masters  of  their  respective  trades  by 
reason  of  sufficiently  long  service  under  the  control  and  direction  of  ex- 
pert white  mechanics.  During  the  existence  of  slavery  the  contract  for 
qualifying  the  Negro  as  a  mechanic  was  made  between  his  owner  and  the 
master  workman.1 

The  South  was  lacking  in  manufactures,  and  used  little  machinery. 
Its  demand  for  skilled  labor  was  not  large,  but  what  demand  existed  was 
supplied  mainly  by  Negroes.  Negro  carpenters,  plasterers,  bricklayers, 
blacksmiths,  wheelwrights,  painters,  harnessmakers,  tanners,  millers, 
weavers,  barrelmakers,  basketmakers,  shoemakers,  chairmakers,  coach- 
men, spinners,  seamstresses,  housekeepers,  gardeners,  cooks,  laundresses, 
embroiderers,  maids  of  all  work,  were  found  in  every  community,  and 
frequently  on  a  single  plantation.  Skilled  labor  was  more  profitable  than 
unskilled,  and  therefore  every  slave  was  made  as  skillful  as  possible 
under  a  slave  system.2 

Bruce  in  his  economic  history  of  Virginia  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  speaks  as  follows  of  the  Negro  mechanics  in 
that  colony: 

The  county  records  of  the  seventeenth  century  reveal  the  presence  of 
many  Negro  mechanics  in  the  colony  during  that  period,  this  being  espe- 
cially the  case  with  carpenters  and  coopers.  This  was  what  might  be 
expected.  The  slave  was  inferior  in  skill,  but  the  ordinary  mechanical 
needs  of  the  plantation  did  not  demand  the  highest  aptitude.  The  fact 
that  the  African  was  a  servant  for  life  was  an  advantage  covering  many 
deficiencies;  nevertheless,  it  is  significant  that  large  slaveholders  like 
Colonel  Byrd  and  Colonel  Fitzhugh  should  have  gone  to  the  inconvenience 
and  expense  of  importing  English  handicraftsmen  who  were  skilled  in  the 
very  trades  in  which  it  is  certain  that  several  of  the  Negroes  belonging  to 


'Ex-Governor  Lowry,  of  Mississippi,  in  North  American  Review,  156:472. 

-C.T.  Winston  in  Annals  of  American  Academy,  July,  1901,  p.  ill. 


The  Ante-bellum   Negro  Artisan  29 

these  planters  had  been  specially  trained.  It  shows  the  low  estimate  in 
which  the  planters  held  the  knowledge  of  their  slaves  regarding  the 
higher  branches  of  mechanical  work.1 

It  is  stated  that  among  the  slaves  of  the  first  Robert  Bev- 
erly was  a  carpenter  valued  at  £30,  and  that  Ralph  Wormeley 
of  Middlesex  county  owned  a  cooper  and  a  carpenter  each 
valued  at  £35.  Colonel  William  Byrd  mentions  the  use  of 
Negroes  in  iron  mining  in  1732.  In  New  Jersey  slaves  were 
employed  as  miners,  iron-workers,  sawmill  hands,  house  and 
ship  carpenters,  wheelwrights,  coopers,  tanners,  shoemakers, 
millers  and  bakers,  among  other  employments,  before  the 
Revolutionary  War.  As  early  as  1708  there  were  enough 
slave  mechanics  in  Pennsylvania  to  make  the  freemen  feel 
their  competition  severely.  In  Massachusetts  and  other  states 
we  hear  of  an  occasional  black  artisan. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  Negro 
artisans  increased.  In  the  District  of  Columbia  many  "were 
superior  mechanics,  ....  Benjamin  Banneker,  the  Ne- 
gro astronomer,  assisting  in  surveying  the  District  in  1791." 
Olmsted,  in  his  journeys  thru  the  slave  states,  just  before  the 
Civil  War,  found  slave  artisans  in  all  the  states.  In  Virginia 
they  worked  in  tobacco  factories,  ran  steamboats,  made 
barrels,  etc.  On  a  South  Carolina  plantation  he  was  told  by 
the  master  that  the  Negro  mechanics  "exercised  as  much 
skill  and  ingenuity  as  the  ordinary  mechanics  that  he  was  used 
to  employ  in  New  England."  In  Charleston  and  some  other 
places  they  were  employed  in  cotton  factories.  In  Alabama 
he  saw  a  black  carpenter — a  careful  and  accurate  calculator 
and  excellent  workman;  he  was  bought  for  $2,000.  In  Louis- 
iana he  was  told  that  master  mechanics  often  bot  up  slave 
mechanics  and  acted  as  contractors.  In  Kentucky  the  slaves 
worked  in  factories  for  hemp-bagging,  and  in  iron  works  on 
the  Cumberland  river,  and  also  in  tobacco  factories.  In  Mobile 
an  advertisement  read:  '  'good  blacksmiths  and  horse-shoers  for 
sale  on  reasonable  terms.""2 


1  Bruce:  Economic  History  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth  Century.     II.,  pp.  405-6. 
-Atlanta  University  Publications,  No.  7,  pp.  13-14. 


30  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

An  official  register  of  free  persons  in  Richmond  county, 
Ga.,  1819,  printed  in  the  Augusta  (Ga.)  Chronicle,  March  13, 
1819,  furnishes  the  following  statistics:1 

Boat  corkers 1 

Carpenters 12 

Harnessmakers 1 

Millwrights 2 

Saddlers 2 

Seamstresses .31 

Weavers 9 

Total 58 

The  entire  labor  in  a  cotton  factory  located  in  Maury  county, 
Tennessee,  in  1827  was  performed  by  slaves. 

Thruout  the  slave  states  there  seems  to  have  been  a  con- 
stant demand  for  Negro  apprentices.  The  following  adver- 
tisements are  but  examples: 

APPRENTICES  WANTED.  -The  subscriber  carrying  on  the  blacksmith's 
business  in  all  its  branches  on  Reynold  street,  near  Calffrey  and  Bus- 
tin's  hotel,  would  willingly  receive  three  Negro  fellows  as  apprentices. 
The  owners  may  confidently  rely  that  every  necessary  attention  will  be 
given  to  their  instruction.  J.  J.  Perin.  [Advertisement  from  the 
Augusta  (Ga.)  Chronicle.  March  2,  1811]. '2 

WANTED  IMMEDIATELY-As  an  apprentice  to  the  blacksmith's  busi- 
ness, a  smart,  active  boy,  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age,  who 
can  come  well  recommended.  A  black  boy  of  this  description  will  be 
taken.  Wanted  also,  a  Journeyman  who  understands  his  business  and 
has  good  recommendations  for  honesty,  industry  and  sobriety.  A  black 
man  would  not  be  rejected.  Ellis  Maddox,  Nashville.  [Advertise- 
ment from  the  Tennessee  Gazette  and  Mero  District  Advertiser  (Nash- 
ville), October  24,  1804]. • 

In  many  places  in  the  South,  white  mechanics  and  Negro 
mechanics  worked  side  by  side  with  little  or  no  friction.  A 
letter  of  H.  Crowell  to  the  editor  of  the  Federal  Union,  Mil- 
ledgeville,  Ga.,  dated  March  18,  1836,  speaks  of  a  boat  build- 
ing establishment  on  the  Flint  river  where  there  were  "ten 
or  fifteen  white  mechanics,  and  some  twenty  or  more  Negroes, 
working  well. ' '  Buckingham  in  discussing  labor  in  the  cotton 
mills  at  Athens,  Ga.,  in  1839,  says: 

•Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society,  Vol.  II,  pp.  143-147. 
'-'  Printed  in  Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society,  Vol.  II,  pp.  348-9. 
Ihnl.      P.  849. 


The  Ante-bellum   Negro  Artisan  31 

.  .  .  There  is  no  difficulty  among  them  on  account  of  color,  the 
white  girls  working  in  the  same  room  and  at  the  same  loom  with  the 
black  girls;  and  boys  of  each  color,  as  well  as  men  and  women,  working 
together  without  apparent  repugnance  or  objection The  Ne- 
groes here  are  found  to  be  quite  as  easily  taught  to  perform  all  the  re- 
quired duties  of  spinners  and  weavers  as  the  whites,  and  are  just  as  tracti- 
ble  when  taught.1 

Of  the  Negroes  in  New  York  City  from  about  1835  until 
1841,  it  is  said: 

The  occupations  included  three  carpenters  and  joiners,  five  boot  and 
shoemakers,  five  tailors,  ....  one  engraver,  one  watch  and  clock 
maker,  one  sign  painter,  two  dress  and  cloakmakers.2 

The  slave  mechanics  were  often  hired  out  by  their  masters 
and  in  many  cases  were  allowed  to  hire  their  own  time.  Such 
encouragement  naturally  resulted  in  the  growth  of  a  privil- 
eged class  among  the  slaves  and  this  class  produced  many  of 
the  Negro  leaders  of  the  ante-bellum  days:  Vesey,  Nat  Tur- 
ner, Richard  Allen  and  Absalom  Jones,  as  examples.  Among 
this  class  were  many  who,  free  in  everything  but  name, 
acquired  property,  reared  families  and  often  lived  in  comfort. 

The  lot  of  these  slave  mechanics  was  by  no  means  an  easy 
one,  for  they  had  continually  to  encounter  the  opposition  of 
white  mechanics.  The  legislatures  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Maryland  were  prevailed  upon  by  white  mechanics  to  pass 
enactments  aimed  at  the  Negro  mechanics  and  thruout  the 
South  were  concrete  evidences  of  such  opposition. 

The  jealousy  of  the  white  artisans  toward  Negro  competi- 
tion is  shown  by  the  following  open  letter  from  a  citizen  of 
Athens,  Ga.,  printed  in  the  Southern  Banner  (Athens),  Janu- 
ary 13,  1838: 

To  the  Contractors  for  Mason's  and  Carpenter's  Work,  Athens: 

Gentlemen:  — I  desire  your  candid  consideration  of  the  views  I  shall 
here  express.  I  ask  no  reply  to  them  except  at  your  volition.  I  am 
aware  that  most  of  you  have  strong  antipathy  to  encourage  the  masonry 
and  carpentry  trades  of  your  poor  white  brothers,  that  your  predilections 
for  giving  employment  in  your  line  of  business  to  ebony  workers  have  so 
cheapened  the  white  man's  labor,  or  expatriated  hence  with  but  a  few 
solitary  exceptions,  all  the  white  masons  and  carpenters  of  this  town. 


1  Bucking-ham,  J.  s. :     Slave  States  of  America,  Vol.  II,  p.  112. 

-Haynes,  George  Edmund:     "The  Negro  at  Work  in  New  York  City,"  p.  67. 


32  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

The  white  man  is  the  only  real,  legal,  moral  and  civil  proprietor  of 
this  country  and  state.  The  right  of  his  proprietorship  reaches  from  the 
date  of  the  studies  of  those  white  men,  Copernicus  and  Gallileo,  who  in- 
dicated from  the  seclusion  of  their  closets  the  sphericity  of  the  earth: 
which  sphericity  hinted  to  another  white  man,  Columbus,  the  possibility 
by  a  westerly  course  of  sailing,  of  finding  land.  Hence  by  white  man 
alone  was  this  continent  discovered;  by  the  prowess  of  white  men  alone 
(tho  not  always  properly  or  humanely  exercised),  were  the  fierce  and 
active  Indians  driven  occidentally:  and  if  swarms  and  hordes  of  infuriated 
red  men  pour  down  now  from  the  northwest,  like  the  wintry  blast  thereof, 
the  white  man  alone,  aye,  those  to  whom  you  decline  to  give  money  for 
bread  and  clothes,  for  their  famishing  families,  in  the  logic  matter  of  with- 
holding work  from  them,  or  employing  Negroes,  in  the  sequel,  to  cheapen 
their  wages  to  a  rate  that  amounts  to  a  moral  and  physical  impossibility 
for  them  either  to  live  here  and  support  their  families— would  bare  their 
breasts  to  the  keen  and  whizzing  shafts  of  the  savage  crusaders— defend- 
ing Negroes,  too,  in  the  bargain,  for  if  left  to  themselves  without  our 
aid,  the  Indians  would  or  can  sweep  the  Negroes  hence,  ''as  dew  drops 
are  shaken  from  the  lion's  mane." 

The  right,  then,  gentlemen,  you  will  no  doubt  candidly  admit,  of  the 
white  man  to  employment  in  preference  to  Negroes,  who  must  defer  to 
us  since  they  live  well  enough  on  plantations,  cannot  be  considered  im- 
peachable by  contractors.  It  is  a  right  more  virtual  and  indisputable 
than  that  of  agrarianism.  As  masters  of  the  polls  in  a  majority,  carry- 
ing all  before  them,  I  am  surprised  the  poor  do  not  elect  faithful  members 
to  the  legislature,  who  will  make  it  penal  to  prefer  Negro  mechanic  la- 
bor to  white  men's.  But  of  the  premises  as  I  have  now  laid  them  down, 
you  will  candidly  judge  for  yourselves,  and  draw  a  conclusion  with  me, 
that  white  bricklayers  and  house-joiners  must  henceforward  have  ample 
work  and  remuneration;  and  yourselves  and  other  contractors  will  set  the 
example,  and  pursue  it  for  the  future  without  deviation. 

Yours  respectfully,  J.  J.  Flournoy. 

In  1845  the  Georgia  legislature  passed  an  act  aimed  at 
Negro  mechanics. 

"An  act  to  prohibit  colored  mechanics  and  masons,  being  slaves  or 
free  persons  of  color,  being  mechanics  or  masons,  from  making  contracts 
for  the  erection  of  buildings,  or  for  the  repair  of  buildings,  and  declaring 
the  white  person  or  persons  directly  or  indirectly  contracting  with  or  em- 
ploying them,  as  well  as  the  master,  employer,  manager,  or  agent  for  said 
slave,  or  guardian  for  said  free  person  of  color,  authorizing  or  permitting 
the  same,  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor. 

"Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  state  of  Georgia  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is  hereby 
enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  from  and  after  the  first  day 


The  Ante-bellum  Negro  Artisan  33 

of  February  next,  each  and  every  white  person  who  shall  hereafter  con- 
tract or  bargain  with  any  slave  mechanic,  or  mason,  or  free  person  of 
color,  being  a  mechanic  or  mason,  shall  be  liable  to  be  indicted  for  a  mis- 
demeanor; and  on  conviction,  to  be  fined,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court, 
not  exceeding  two  hundred  dollars." 

Then  follows  another  clause  imposing  the  like  penalties  on 
the  owners  of  slaves,  or  guardians  of  free  persons  of  color, 
who  authorize  the  contracts  prohibited  by  this  statute. 

Charles  Lyell,  commenting  upon  the  law  said: 

1  may  first  observe,  in  regard  to  this  disgraceful  law,  which  was  only 
carried  by  a  small  majority  in  the  Georgian  legislature,  that  it  proves  that 
not  a  few  of  the  Negro  race  have  got  on  so  well  in  the  world  in  reputa- 
tion and  fortune,  and  in  skill  in  certain  arts,  that  it  was  worth  while  to 
legislate  against  them  in  order  to  keep  them  down,  and  prevent  them 
from  entering  into  successful  rivalry  with  the  whites.  It  confirms,  there- 
fore, most  fully  the  impression  which  all  I  saw  in  Georgia  had  left  on  my 
mind,  that  the  blacks  are  steadily  rising  in  social  importance  in  spite  of 
slavery  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  by  aid  of  that  institution,  assuming, 
as  it  does,  in  proportion  as  the  whites  become  civilized,  a  more  and  more 
mitigated  form 

I  have  heard  apologists  in  the  North  endeavoring  to  account  for  the 
degraded  position  which  the  Negroes  hold,  socially  and  politically,  in  the 
free  states,  by  saying  they  belong  to  a  race  which  is  kept  in  a  state  of 
slavery  in  the  South.  But,  if  they  really  desired  to  accelerate  emanci- 
pation, they  would  begin  by  setting  an  example  to  the  southern  states, 
and  treating  the  black  race  with  more  respect  and  more  on  a  footing  of 

equality Many  white  mechanics  who  had  emigrated  from  the 

North  to  the  slave  states,  declared  to  me  that  every  opening  in  their 
trades  was  closed  to  them,  because  the  black  artisans  were  employed  by 
their  owners  in  preference.  Hence,  they  are  now  using  in  Georgia  the 
power  given  to  them  by  an  exclusive  franchise,  to  pass  disabling  statutes 
against  the  blacks,  to  prevent  them  from  engaging  in  certain  kinds  of 
work.  In  several  states,  Virginia  among  others,  I  heard  of  strikes  where 
the  white  workmen  bound  themselves  not  to  return  to  their  employment 
until  the  master  had  discharged  all  his  colored  people.  Such  combinations 
will,  no  doubt,  forward  the  substitution  of  white  for  Negro  labor,  and 
may  hasten  the  era  of  general  emancipation.  But  if  this  measure  be  pre- 
maturely adopted,  the  Negroes  are  a  doomed  race,  and  already  their  sit- 
uation is  most  critical.1 

Another  evidence  of  white  opposition  to  Negro  mechanics 
is  seen  in  the  petition  signed  by  about  two  hundred  mechanics 


1  Lyell,  Charles:     "A  Second  Visit  to  the  United  States.' 


34  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

and  laborers  and  presented  to  the  city  council  of  Atlanta,  Ga., 
March  5,  1858. 

We,  the  undersigned,  would  respectfully  represent  to  your  honorable 
body  that  there  exists  in  the  city  of  Atlanta  a  number  of  men  who,  in  the 
opinion  of  your  memorialists,  are  of  no  benefit  to  the  city.  We  refer  to 
Negro  mechanics  whose  masters  reside  in  other  places,  and  who  pay 
nothing  toward  the  support  of  the  city  government,  and  whose  Negro 
mechanics  can  afford  to  underbid  the  regular  resident  citizen  mechanics 
of  your  city  to  their  great  injury,  and  without  benefit  to  the  city  in  any 
way.  We  most  respectfully  request  your  honorable  body  to  take  the 
matter  in  hand,  and  by  your  action  in  the  premises  afford  such  protec- 
tion to  the  resident  mechanics  of  your  city  as  your  honorable  body  may 
deem  meet  in  the  premises,  and  in  duty  bound  your  petitioners  will  ever 
pray. 

In  Ohio  about  1820  to  1830  and  thereafter  the  white  me- 
chanics' societies  combined  against  Negroes.  In  Philadelphia 
the  series  of  fearful  riots  against  Negroes  was  due  in  large 
part  to  the  jealousy  of  white  working  men  and  several  riots 
and  disorders  on  the  part  of  white  mechanics  aimed  against 
Negroes  occurred  in  New  York,  Washington  and  other  cities. 

Notwithstanding  great  opposition,  the  Negro  artisan  man- 
aged to  keep  in  evidence.     The  following  letter  is  of  interest:1 

During  the  days  of  slavery  the  Negro  mechanic  was  a  man  of  im- 
portance. He  was  a  most  valuable  slave  to  his  master.  He  would  always 
sell  for  from  two  to  three  times  as  much  in  the  market  as  the  unskilled 
slaveman.  When  a  fine  Negro  mechanic  was  to  be  sold  at  public  auction, 
or  private  sale,  the  wealthy  slave  owners  would  vie  with  each  other  for 
the  prize  and  run  the  bidding  often  up  into  high  figures. 

The  slave  owners  early  saw  the  aptitude  of  the  Negro  to  learn  handi- 
craft, and  fully  appreciating  what  vast  importance  and  value  this  would 
be  to  them  (the  masters)  selected  their  brightest  young  slavemen  and  had 
them  taught  in  the  different  kinds  of  trades.  Hence  on  every  large  plan- 
tation you  could  find  the  Negro  carpenter,  blacksmith,  brick  and  stone 
mason.  These  trades  comprehended  and  included  much  more  in  their 
scope  in  those  days  than  they  do  now.  Carpentry  was  in  its  glory  then. 
What  is  done  now  by  varied  and  complicated  machinery  was  wrot  then  by 
hand.  The  invention  of  the  planing  machine  is  an  event  within  the 
knowledge  of  many  persons  living  today.  Most  of  our  wood-working 
machinery  has  come  into  use  long  since  the  days  of  slavery.  The  same 
work  done  now  with  the  machine,  was  done  then  by  hand.  The  carpen- 
ter's chesl  of  tools  in  slavery  times  was  a  very  elaborate  and  expensive 


From  Mr.  J.  I).  Smith,  stationary  engineer,  Chicago, 


The  Ante-bellum   Negro  Artisan  35 

outfit.  His  "kit"  not  only  included  all  the  tools  that  the  average  carpen- 
ter carries  now,  but  also  the  tools  for  performing  all  the  work  done  by 
the  various  kinds  of  "wood-working"  machines.  There  is  little  oppor- 
tunity for  the  carpenter  of  today  to  acquire,  or  display,  genius  and  skill 
in  his  trade  as  could  the  artisan  of  old. 

One  only  needs  to  go  down  South  and  examine  hundreds  of  old  south- 
ern mansions,  and  splendid  old  church  edifices,  still  intact,  to  be  convinced 
of  the  fact  of  the  cleverness  of  the  Negro  artisan,  who  constructed  nine- 
tenths  of  them,  and  many  of  them  still  provoke  the  admiration  of  all  who 
see  them,  and  are  not  to  be  despised  by  the  men  of  our  day. 

There  are  few,  if  any,  of  the  carpenters  of  today  who,  if  they  had  the 
hand  tools,  could  get  out  the  "stuff"  and  make  one  of  those  old  style 
massive  panel  doors, —who  could  work  out  by  hand  the  mouldings,  the 
stiles,  the  mullions,  etc.,  and  build  one  of  those  windows,  which  are  to  be 
found  today  in  many  of  the  churches  and  public  buildings  of  the  South; 
all  of  which  testify  to  the  cleverness  of  the  Negro's  skill  as  artisan  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  term.  For  the  carpenter  in  those  days  was  also  the 
"cabinet  maker,"  the  wood  turner,  coffin  maker,  generally  the  pattern 
maker,  and  the  maker  of  most  things  made  of  wood.  The  Negro  black- 
smith held  almost  absolute  sway  in  his  line,  which  included  the  many 
branches  of  forgery,  and  other  trades  which  are  now  classified  under  dif- 
ferent heads  from  that  of  the  regular  blacksmith.  The  blacksmith  in  the 
days  of  slavery  was  expected  to  make  any  and  everything  wrot  of  iron. 
He  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  the  "machine  blacksmith,"  "horse- 
shoe r,"  "carriage  and  wagon  ironer  and  trimmer, "  "gunsmith,"  "wheel- 
wright;" and  often  whittled  out  and  ironed  the  hames,  the  plowstocks,  and 
the  "single-tree"  for  the  farmers,  and  did  a  hundred  other  things  too 
numerous  to  mention.  They  were  experts  at  tempering  edge  tools,  by 
what  is  generally  known  as  the  water  process.  But  many  of  them  had 
secret  processes  of  their  own  for  tempering  tools  which  they  guarded 
with  zealous  care. 

It  was  the  good  fortune  of  your  humble  servant  to  have  served  his 
time  as  an  apprentice  in  a  general  blacksmithing  shop,  or  shop  of  all 
work,  presided  over  by  an  ex-slave  genius  known  thruout  the  state  as  a 
"master  mechanic. "  In  slavery  times  this  man  hired  his  own  time,— 
paying  his  master  a  certain  stipulated  amount  of  money  each  year,  and 
all  he  made  over  and  above  that  amount  was  his  own. 

The  Negro  machinists  were  also  becoming  numerous  before  the  down- 
fall of  slavery.  The  slave  owners  were  generally  the  owners  of  all  the 
factories,  machine  shops,  flour-mills,  saw-mills,  gin-houses  and  threshing 
machines.  They  owned  all  the  railroads  and  the  shops  connected  with 
them.  In  all  of  these  the  white  laborer  and  mechanic  had  been  supplanted 
almost  entirely  by  the  slave  mechanics  at  the  time  of  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Civil  War.  Many  of  the  railroads  in  the  South  had  their  entire 
train  crews,   except  the   conductors,  made  up  of  the  slaves — including 


36  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

engineers  and  firemen.  The  "Georgia  Central"  had  inaugurated  just  such 
a  movement,  and  had  many  Negro  engineers  on  its  locomotives  and  Negro 
machinists  in  its  shops.  So  it  will  be  seen  at  once  that  the  liberation  of 
the  slaves  was  also  the  salvation  of  the  poor  white  man  of  the  South.  It 
saved  him  from  being  completely  ousted,  as  a  laborer  and  a  mechanic,  by 
the  masters,  to  make  place  for  the  slaves  whom  they  were  having  trained 
for  those  positions.  Yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us  now,  the  great 
mass  of  poor  white  men  in  the  South  who  were  directly  and  indirectly 
affected  by  the  slave  mechanic,  — being  literally  forced  out  of  the  business, 
took  up  arms  and  fought  against  the  abolition  of  slavery. 

While  the  poor  whites  and  masters  were  fighting,  these  same  black 
men  were  at  home  working  to  support  those  fighting  for  their  slavery. 
The  Negro  mechanic  could  be  found,  during  the  conflict,  in  the  machine 
shops,  building  engines  and  railroad  cars,  in  the  gun  factories  making 
arms  of  all  kinds  for  the  soldiers,  in  the  various  shops  building  wagons, 
and  making  harness,  bridles  and  saddles,  for  the  armies  of  the  South. 
Negro  engineers  handled  the  throttle  in  many  cases  to  haul  the  soldiers 
to  the  front,  whose  success,  in  the  struggle  going  on,  meant  continued 
slavery  to  themselves  and  their  people.  All  of  the  flour  mills,  and  most  of 
every  other  kind  of  mill  of  the  South,  was  largely  in  charge  of  black  men. 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  new  Negro  for  the  new  century,  but  with 
all  his  training  he  will  have  to  take  a  long  stride  in  mechanical  skill  before 
he  reaches  the  point  of  practical  efficiency  where  the  old  Negro  of  the  old 
century  left  off.  It  was  the  good  fortune  of  the  writer  once  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  an  uncle  who  was  master  of  what  would  now  be  half  a  dozen 
distinct  trades.  He  was  generally  known  as  a  millwright,  or  mill  builder. 
A  millwright  now,  is  only  a  man  who  merely  sets  up  the  machinery,  and 
his  work  is  now  confined  mostly  to  the  hanging  of  shafting,  pulleys  and 
belting.  In  the  days  of  slavery  the  millwright  had  to  know  how  to  con- 
struct everything  about  the  mill,  from  foundation  to  roofs.  This  uncle 
could  take  his  men  with  their  "cross-cut  saws"  and  "broad  axes"  and  go 
into  the  forests,  hew  the  timbers  with  which  to  build  the  dams  across  the 
rivers  and  streams  of  water,  to  erect  the  "mill  house"  frames,  get  out 
all  the  necessary  timber  and  lumber  at  the  saw-mill.  Then  he  would, 
without  a  sign  of  a  drawing  on  paper,  lay  out  and  cut  every  piece,  every 
mortise  and  tenon,  every  brace  and  rafter  with  their  proper  angles,  etc., 
with  perfect  precision  before  they  put  the  whole  together.  I  have  seen 
my  uncle  go  into  the  forest,  fell  a  great  tree,  hew  out  of  it  an  immense 
stick  or  shaft  from  four  feet  to  five  feet  in  diameter,  and  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  long,  having  as  many  as  sixteen  to  twenty  faces  on  its  surface, 
or  as  they  termed  it,  "sixteen"  and  "twenty  square."  He  would  then 
take  it  to  the  mill  seat  and  mortise  it,  make  the  arms,  and  all  the  intricate 
parts  for  a  great  "overshot"  water  wheel  to  drive  the  huge  mill  machin- 
ery. This  is  a  feat  most  difficult  even  for  modern  mechanics  who  have  a 
thoro  knowledge  of  mathematics  and  the  laws  of  mechanics. 


The  Economics  of  Emancipation  37 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  understand  how  those  men  with  little  or  no 
knowledge  of  mathematics,  or  mechanical  rules,  could  take  a  crude  stick 
of  timber,  shape  it,  and  then  go  to  work  and  cut  out  a  huge  screw  and 
the  "Tap-blocks"  for  those  old  style  cotton  presses. 


Section  4.     The  Economics  of  Emancipation 

Emancipation  found  many  Negro  artisans  of  varying  de- 
grees of  skill  and  efficiency  scattered  thruout  the  United 
States.  So  far  as  the  South  was  concerned,  the  Negro  slave 
had  been  for  years  the  actual  artisan;  and  it  was  the  black 
artisan  who  met  peculiar  conditions  in  the  readjustment  which 
followed  the  war  measure  by  which  four  million  black  men 
were  set  free.  For  a  time,  of  course,  the  old  conditions  re- 
mained and  the  Negro  artisan,  not  infrequently  patronized  by 
his  former  master,  still  held  undisputed  sway.  Three  circum- 
stances, however,  soon  disturbed  the  situation: 

(1)  The  competition  of  white  mechanics. 

(2)  The  efforts  of  the  Negro  for  self-protection. 

(3)  The  new  industrial  development  of  the  South. 

First:  The  opposition  of  white  mechanics  to  Negro  work- 
men which  was  evident  in  ante-bellum  days  became  more 
intense  after  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  and  in  the  compe- 
tition which  followed,  the  untutored,  inexperienced  black  me- 
chanic found  himself  outdistanced  by  his  thriftier  white  com- 
petitor, sometimes  by  fair  means,  sometimes  by  foul.  With- 
out the  protection,  and  with  less  and  less  of  the  patronage  of 
his  former  master,  the  Negro  artisan  found  himself  being 
gradually  supplanted  by  the  white  working  man. 

Secondly:  The  Negro  artisan  found  himself  at  a  political 
disadvantage.  Having  no  political  power  with  which  to  de- 
fend himself,  he  was  still  at  the  mercy  of  his  white  competi- 
tor, who  was  armed  with  the  ballot.  Seeing  that  his  safety 
and,  in  the  long  run,  his  very  economic  existence  depended 
upon  the  possession  of  the  ballot,  the  Negro  made  desperate 
efforts  to  secure  that  power.  These  efforts  of  the  Negro  to 
secure  the  ballot  further  complicated  his  economic  position. 


38  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

Thirdly:  The  new  industrial  development  of  the  South 
made  new  demands  upon  the  mechanic.  Old  methods  of 
production  gave  way  to  new  ones  and  the  Negro  mechanic, 
schooled  in  the  economy  of  the  ante-bellum  days  and  knowing 
so  little  of  mills  and  machinery,  found  himself  unprepared  to 
meet  the  demands  of  the  new  economy.  Nevertheless  into 
this  field  he  made  his  way.  How  far  he  has  been  able  to  take 
his  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  American  artisans,  the  census 
reports  from  1870  to  1910  will  show. 

The  Negro  American  after  slavery  made  four  distinct  and 
different  efforts  to  reach  economic  safety.  The  first  effort 
was  thru  the  preferment  of  the  selected  house  servant  class; 
the  second  was  by  means  of  competitive  industry;  the  third 
was  by  means  of  land-holding;  and  the  fourth  was  by  means 
of  what  may  be  called  the  group  economy. 

(1)  The  one  person  who  under  the  slave  regime  came 
nearest  escaping  from  the  toils  of  the  system  and  the  disa- 
bilities of  the  caste  was  the  favorite  house  servant.  This 
arose  from  four  reasons: 

(a)  The  house  servant  was  brot  into  closest  contact 

with  the  culture  of  the  master's  family. 

(b)  He  had  more  often  the  advantages  of  town  and 

city  life. 

(c)  He  was  able  to  gain  at  least  some  smattering  of 

an  education. 

(d)  He  was  frequently  a  blood  relative  of  the  master 

class. 

It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  the  natural  leadership  of 
the  emancipated  race  fell  to  this  class.  Indeed  the  brunt  of 
reconstruction  fell  on  their  shoulders.  When  the  history  of 
the  reconstruction  period  is  written  according  to  truth  and 
not  according  to  our  prejudices  it  will  be  clear  that  no  group 
of  men  ever  made  a  more  tremendous  fight  against  more  over- 
whelming odds. 

It  seemed  natural  at  this  time  that  this  leading  class  of 
upper  servants  would  step  into  the  economic  life  of  the  nation 
from  this  vantage  ground  and  play  a  leading  role.     This  they 


The  Economics  of  Emancipation  39 

did  in  several  instances,  the  most  conspicuous  being  the  bar- 
ber, the  caterer  and  the  steward.  For  the  most  part,  however, 
economic  society  refused  to  admit  the  black  applicant  on  his 
merit  to  any  place  of  authority  or  advantage.  He  held  his 
own  in  the  semi-servile  work  of  barber  until  he  met  the  charge 
of  color  discrimination  from  his  own  folk  and  the  strong  com- 
petition of  Germans  and  Italians;  while  the  caterer  was  dis- 
placed by  the  palatial  hotel  in  which  he  could  gain  no  foothold. 
On  the  whole,  then,  the  mass  of  house  servants  found  the 
doors  of  advancement  closed  in  their  faces.  The  better  tenth, 
both  themselves  and  thru  their  better  trained  children, 
escaped  into  the  professions  and  thus  found  economic  inde- 
pendence. The  mass  of  servants  remained  servants  or  turned 
toward  industry. 

(2)  The  second  attempt  of  the  freedmen  was  made  along 
the  lines  of  industrial  co-operation.  It  was  a  less  ambitious 
attempt  than  that  of  the  house  servants  and  comprehended 
larger  numbers.  It  was  characterized  by  a  large  migration 
to  cities  and  towns  and  entrance  into  work  as  teamsters,  rail- 
way section  hands,  miners,  saw-mill  employees,  porters  and 
hostlers,  etc.  This  class  met  and  joined  in  the  towns  the 
older  class  of  artisans,  most  of  them  connected  with  the 
building  trades,  and  together  these  classes  attempted  economic 
advance.  Excepting  the  farmers,  it  is  this  class  that  has 
attracted  most  attention,  that  has  met  all  the  brunt  of  the 
economic  battle  and  that  is  usually  referred  to  in  studies  of 
this  sort.  What  the  outcome  of  this  second  attempt  at  eco- 
nomic freedom  will  be  can  only  be  divined  by  calling  attention 
to  the  third  method  by  which  the  Negro  has  searched  for  the 
way  of  life. 

(3)  Meantime,  however,  the  freed  hands  had  started  for- 
ward by  a  third  way:  that  of  land  ownership.  -Most  of  those 
who  got  any  start  became  share  tenants  and  a  fourth  of  these 
succeeded  in  buying  land.  Those  who  bot  land  approximated 
economic  independence,  formed  the  closed  plantation  economy 
of  the  olden  times,  but  with  colored  owner,  colored  laborers, 
and  colored  tenants.     In  an  increasing  number  of  cases  the 


40  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

colored  store  came  in  to  help  them  and  thus  a  complete  system 
of  what  may  be  called  the  group  economy  was  established. 

(4)  The  group  economy,  the  fourth  method,  is  of  striking 
importance.  However,  outside  the  country  districts  it  is  little 
understood.  It  consists  of  such  a  co-operative  arrangement 
of  industries  and  services  within  the  Negro  group  that  the 
group  tends  to  become  a  closed  economic  circle  largely  inde- 
pendent of  the  surrounding  white  world.  The  recognition  of 
this  fact  explains  many  of  the  anomalies  which  puzzle  the 
student  of  the  Negro  problems. 

One  used  to  see  numbers  of  Negro  barbers;  one  is  tempted 
to  think  that  they  are  all  gone.  Yet  today  there  are  more 
Negro  barbers  in  the  United  States  than  ever  before  but  at 
the  same  time  a  larger  number  than  ever  before  cater  solely 
to  Negro  trade,  where  they  have  a  monopoly.  Because  the 
Negro  lawyer,  physician  and  teacher  serve  a  colored  clientage 
their  existence  is  half  forgotten.  The  new  Negro  business 
men  are  not  successors  of  the  old;  there  used  to  be  Negro 
business  men  in  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  cater- 
ing to  white  trade.  The  new  Negro  business  man  caters  to 
Negro  trade.  So  far  has  this  gone  that  today  in  every  city  of 
the  United  States  with  a  considerable  Negro  population  the 
black  group  is  serving  itself  with  religious  ministration,  medi- 
cal care,  legal  advice  and  education  of  children;  and  to  a 
growing  degree  with  food,  houses,  books  and  newspapers. 
So  extraordinary  has  been  this  development  that  it  forms  a 
large  and  growing  part  in  the  economy  in  the  case  of  fully 
one-half  of  the  Negroes  of  the  United  States  and  in  the  case 
of  between  50,000  and  100,000  town  and  city  Negroes.  Rep- 
resenting at  least  300,000  persons,  the  group  economy  ap- 
proaches a  complete  system.  To  these  may  be  added  the  bulk 
of  the  200,000  Negro  farmers  who  own  their  farms.  They 
form  a  natural  group  economy  and  they  are  increasing  the 
scope  of  it  in  every  practical  way. 


The  Occupations  of  Negroes  41 


Section  5.     The  Occupations  of  Negroes 

I  recommend  to  them  (the  people  so  declared  to  be  free)  that,  in  all 
cases  when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages.1 

The  entrance  of  the  Negro  into  gainful  occupations  in  a 
large  way  followed  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Handicapped  by 
lack  of  previous  training  and  beset  by  desperate  economic 
conditions,  the  freed  blacks  launched  forth  as  free  workers 
on  a  paid  labor  basis.  The  census  figures  from  1870  to  1900 
have  given  evidence  of  the  Negro's  place  in  gainful  occupa- 
tions. The  following  statistics  are  taken  from  the  census  of 
1900 :2 

Occupations  of  American  Negroes,  1900 

Agricultural  pursuits 2,143,154  or  53.7  per  cent. 

Professional  service 47,219   "     1.2 

Domestic  and  personal  service 1,317,859   "  33.0 

Trade  and  transportation 2"8,989   "    5.2 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits 275,116   "     6.9 

Occupations  of  Native  Whites  (Native  Parents),  1900 

Agricultural  pursuits 6,004,039  or  43.3 

Professional  service 803,288   "     5.8 

Domestic  and  personal  service 1,841,853   "  13.3 

Trade  and  transportation 2,400,018   "  17.3 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits 2,823,131   "  20.3 

Occupations  of  Native  Whites  (Foreign  Parents),  1900 

Agricultural  pursuits 1,100,608  or  20.8 

Professional  service 259,434   "     4.9 

Domestic  and  personal  service ...     913,645   "  17.2 

Trade  and  transportation 1,225,351    "  23.1 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits 1,801,886   "  34.0 

Occupations  of  Foreign  Whites,  1900 

Agricultural  pursuits 1,074,211  or  18.7 

Professional  service 143,893   "    2.5 

Domestic  and  personal  service 1,435,407   "  25.0 

Trade  and  transportation 915,151   "  16.0 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits 2,168,153   "  37.8 

These  statistics  show  that  the  per  cent  of  Negroes  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits  is  greater  than  the  per  cent  of  any 
other  group  of  American  citizens  so  engaged.  The  same  is 
true  for  domestic  and  personal  service.  The  former  is  ex- 
plained, of  course,  by  the  large  rural  Negro  population;  the 
latter,  by  the  strenuous  economic  conditions  which  confront 
the  ever  increasing  mass  of  black  people  who  move  to  the 
urban  centers.  Professional  service  claims  1.2  per  cent  of  the 
Negro  workers,  an  appreciable  increase  over  1890. 

1  From  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  2The  figures  for  1910  are  not  yet  available. 


42 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


SEX,  GENERAL 

NATIVITY  AND 

COLOR 


Agricultural 
Pursuits 


Professional 
Service 


Domestic 

and  Personal 

Service 


Trade  and 
Transpor- 
tation 


Manufactur- 
ing and 
Mechanical 
Pursuits 


Number 


Per 
Ct. 


Number 


Per 

Ct. 


Number 


Per 
Ct. 


Number 


Pk  r 

Ct. 


Number 


Per 
Ct. 


Both  sexes  (all  persons)  * 

Native  white— native 
parents 

Native  white— foreign 
parents 

Foreign  white  .... 

Negroes 

Males- 
Native  white — native 

parents    

Native  white— foreign 

parents    

Foreign  white  .... 
Negro 


10,381,765 


100.0 


1,258,538 100.0 


6,004,039  57.8 


1,100,608 
1,074,211 
2,143,154 


10.6 
10.4 
20.6 


5,685,429  60.4 


Females- 
Native  white— native 

parents    

Native  white— foreign 

parents    

Foreign  white  .... 
Negro 


1,071,210 
1,032,484 
1,561,153 


318,610 

29,398 
41,727 

582,001 


11.4 
11.0 
16.6 


32.6 

3.0 
4.3 
59.5 


806,288 

259,434 
143,896 
47,219 


530,570 

146,357 
117,973 
31,625 


275,718 

113,077 
25,923 
15,594 


64.1 

20.6 
11.4 
3.7 


64.1 

17.7 
14.2 
3.8 


64.0 

26.3 
6.0 
3.6 


5,580,657 


1,841,853 


913,645 
435,407 
317,859 


1,258,045 

554,424 
967,838 
635,933 


583,808 

359,221 
467,569 
681,926 


100.0 


33.0 

16.4 
25.7 
23.6 


36.1 

15.9 

27.8 
18.2 


27.9 

17.1 
22.3 
32.6 


4,766,964100.0 


2,400,018  50.4 


1,225,351 
915,151 
208,989 


2,168,869 

1,020,507 
852,035 
204,852 


231,149 

204,844 

63,116 

4,137 


25.7 
19.2 
4.4 


7,085,309 


2,823,131 

1,801,886 

2,168,153 

275,116 


50.9  2,305,779 


23.9 

20.0 

4.8 


40.7 
12.6 
0.8 


1,324,889 

1,886,769 

241,934 


517,352 

476,997 

281,384 

33,182 


100.0 


25.4 
3').  6 


39.9 

23.0 

32.7 

4.2 


39.4 

36.4 
21.4 
2.5 


'Including  Chinese,  Japanese  and  Indians. 


Dividing  the  Negro  wage-earners  by  sex  we  have: 

Males  Females  Total 

Professions 1.2  1.2  1.2 

Agriculture 58.3  44.2  53.7 

Trade  and  transportation 7.7  0.3  5.2 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits 9.0  2.5  6.9 

Domestic  and  personal  service 23.8  51.8  33.0 

Total 100.0  100.0  100.00 


These  statistics  show  that  in  1900  about  twelve  per  cent  of 
the  Negroes  engaged  in  gainful  occupations  were  engaged  in 
trade  and  transportation  and  manufactures  and  mechanical 
pursuits,  an  increase  of  about  two  per  cent  over  those  so 
engaged  in  1890.  There  is  shown  a  decrease  of  about  three 
and  one-half  per  cent  in  agricultural  pursuits,  largely  explained 
by  the  cityward  movement  of  the  Negro,  which  also  explains 
in  part  the  slight  increase  in  the  number  of  Negroes  engaged 
in  domestic  and  personal  service.  Taking  all  the  states  of 
the  union  we  have  the  following  figures  for  1900: 


The  Occupations  of  Negroes 
Negro  Wage=earners,  1900 


43 


BY  STATES 


All  Occupations 


Males      Females 


Trade  and 
Transportation 


Males     Females 


Manufacturing 

and  Mechanical 

Pursuits 


Males     Females 


United  States 

Continental  United  States 

Alabama 

Arizona 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

District  of  Columbia   .    . 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho  

Illinois        

Indiana 

Indian  Territory    .    .    .    . 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New  Hampshire    .    .    .    . 

New  Jersey 

New  Mexico 

New  York 

North  Carolina 

North  Dakota 

Ohio 

Oklahoma 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode  Island 

South  Carolina   ... 

South  Dakota 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia  

Washington 

West  Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 


2,675,497 


256, 
1, 

116, 
3, 
3, 
4, 
9, 
25, 
74, 

302, 


23 


55, 
2 

221 


1,316,872 

1,316,840 

150,294 

167 

46,546 

1,349 

1,344 

3,047 

3,864 

23,448 

26,844 

163,234 

30 

9,725 

6,838 

2,283 

1,083 

4,43ii 

36,712 

100,888 

171 

35,658 

5,747 

1,678 

568 

150,041 

21,272 

212 

903 

17 

156 

13,211 

129 

23,059 

87,178 

3) 

10,449 

1,262 

159 

24,624 

1,928 

138,560 

55 

65,744 

67,709 

71 

105 

80,239 

216 

3,273 

235 

55 


205,017 

204,852 

13,639 

40 

5,431 

603 

527 

1,026 

770 

5,999 

6,293 

19,004 

7 

5,119 

2,941 

401 

582 

1,661 

9,654 

9,899 

92 

8,682 

2,325 

618 

429 

10,301 

7,260 

74 

381 

5 

40 

3,839 

71 

7,669 

9,250 

13 

4,751 

405 

71 

9,033 

764 

8,238 

26 

16,281 

10,886 

16 

39 

16,930 

121 

2,455 

106 

85 


225 


82 

19 
10 
28 
17 

214 
94 

468 
1 

184 

47 

6 

14 

34 

123 

164 
1 

147 
99 
19 
23 

196 
79 
2 
14 


L15 

12 

3 

201 

19 

219 


233 

107 

1 

548 

'  18 
2 


241,963 

241,934 

26,140 

57 

7,159 

410 

571 

648 

865 

2,565 

11,403 

23,021 

10 

4,; 

2,617 

1,078 

1,430 

2,955 

9,975 

11,331 

68 

7,780 

1,555 

656 

114 

9,687 

5,917 

55 

289 

6 

35 

2,065 

238 

4,419 

15,924 

12 

5,366 

199 

59 

9,150 

352 

13,807 

19 

15,892 

6,906 

20 

31 

27,835 

348 

6,376 

74 

109 


33,186 

33,182 

1,453 

15 

445 

130 

55 

138 

67 

1,691 

1,202 

2,680 

1 

753 

339 

39 

60 

220 

1,165 

2,498 

10 

1,146 

532 

146 

67 

1,188 

614 

18 

48 

5 

11 

369 

3 

1,401 

2,609 

1 

715 

20 

13 

1,277 

148 

2,237 

1 

1,808 

813 

8 

2 

4,869 

29 

99 

21 


According  to  the  twelfth  census  there  were  in  the  United 
States  in  1900  215,369  skilled  Negro  artisans  distributed  by 
occupations  as  follows: 


44  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Negro  Artisans  in  the  United  States— Census  of  1900 

Occupations  No.                            Occupations  No. 

Architects,  designers,  etc 52  Clock  and  watch  makers  and  repairers  .  109 

Electricians 185  Gold  and  silver  workers 66 

Engineers  (civil,  etc.),  and  surveyors  .  120  Tin  plate  and  tinware  makers 924 

Carpenters  and  joiners 21,114  Other  metal  workers 353 

Masons  (brick  and  stone) 14,357  Bookbinders 86 

Painters,  glaziers  and  varnishers  .   .    .  5,784  Boxmakers  (paper) 60 

Paper  hangers 586  Engravers 22 

Plasterers 3,757  Paper  and  pulp  mill  operatives.    .    .    .  261 

Plumbers  and  gas  and  steam  fitters  .  .  1,193  Printers,  lithographers  and  pressmen  .  1,221 

Roofers  and  slaters 3  8  Bleaching  and  dye  works  operatives    .  446 

Mechanics 377  Cai pet  factory  operatives 43 

Brick  and  tile  makers,  etc 9,970  Cotton  mill  operatives 1,425 

Glassworkers 427  Hosiery  and  knitting  mill  operatives   .  36 

Marble  and  stone  cutters 1,257  Silk  mill  operatives 136 

Potters 212  Woolen  mill  operatives 169 

Blacksmiths 10,104  Other  textile  mill  operatives 330 

Iron  and  steel  workers 12,327  Dressmakers        12,572 

Machinists 1,2  3  Hat  and  cap  makers 22 

Steam  boiler  makers 335  Milliners 180 

Stove,  furnace  and  grate  makers  .    .    .  248  Seamstresses 11,538 

Tool  and  cutlery  makers 198  Shirt,  collar  and  cuff  makers 181 

Wheelwiights 376  Tailors  and  tailoresses 1,845 

Wireworkers 144  Other  textile  workers 159 

Boot  and  shoe  makers  and  repairers  .  .  4,574  Broom  and  brush  makers 213 

Harness  and  saddle  makers  and  repair-  Charcoal,  coke  and  lime  burners  .    .    .  3,870 

ers 273  Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .   .  10,227 

Leather  curriers  and  tanners 1,073  Glove  makers 15 

Trunk  and  leather  case  makers  ....  23  Model  and  pattern  makers 24 

Cabinet  makers 342  Photographers        247 

Saw  and  planing  mill  employees    ....  33,266  Rubber  factory  operatives 44 

Coopers 2,964  Tobacco  and  cigar  factory  operatives  .  15,349 

Other  woodworkers 2,803  Upholsterers 1,045 

Brass  workers 110  Other  miscellaneous  industries  ....  21,939 


It  is  seen  here  that  the  occupations  which  claim  the  largest 
numbers  of  male  Negro  artisans  are  those  connected  with  the 
building  trades:  milling,  carpentering,  masonry  and  working 
in  iron  and  steel.  The  female  workers  classed  as  artisans  are 
engaged  chiefly  as  dressmakers  and  seamstresses.  When  one 
remembers,  in  the  first  place,  the  Negro's  physical  endowment, 
and  in  the  second  place,  the  economic  conditions  which  pre- 
vailed during  the  slave  regime,  these  statistics  are  rather  as 
one  would  expect.  These  two  hundred  thousand  and  more 
Negroes  engaged  as  skilled  or  semi-skilled  workers  occupy  an 
important  place  in  their  own  racial  group  and  are  indeed  no 
small  asset  to  the  economic  forces  of  the  nation.  Had  their 
training  been  better  their  social  value,  great  as  it  is  today, 
would  be  even  greater. 

Taking  the  sixteen  former  slave  states  and  the  District  of 
Columbia  we  have  the  following  table: 


The  Occupations  of  Negroes 


45 


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The  Occupations  of  Negroes 


47 


The  Ages  of  Negro  Employees  —  1900 


Ages 


10-15    

16-24    

25-34    

35-44    

45-54    

55-64    

65  years  and  over 
Age  unknown .   . 


Manufacturing  and  Mechani- 
cal Industries 

8,901 
74,357 
79,496 
51,696 
33,652 
16,301 

8,3' 2 

2,444 


Trade  and  Transportation 

8,146 
61,385 
62,787 
39,756 
22,238 

8,999 

3,652 

2,191 


Negro  Artisans  by  Age  Periods — 1900 


AGE  PERIODS 


10-14 
Yrs. 


Male— 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 

Butchers 

Carpenters  and  joiners 

Cotton  mill  operatives 

Machinists 

Masons 

Miners  and  quarrymen 

Printers 

Steam  railway  employees 

Tailors 

Textile  mill  operatives 

Tobacco  and  cigar  factory  operatives .   . 

Female— 
Dressmakers,  milliners  and  seamstresses 
Tobacco  and  cigar  factory  operatives  .    . 
Tailoresses 


Total 


133 

46 

75 

118 

72 

9 

67 

1,348 

45 

495 

48 

68 

1,298 


15-24 
Yrs. 


1,505 
538 
833 

2,196 
380 
277 

1,792 

11,825 

414 

18,272 

575 

261 

3,608 


2,056 


25-34 
Yrs. 


2,070 


4,155 
283 
420 

3,920 

11,915 

387 

20,223 

510 

2' 9 

2,562 


8,311 
1,214 


35-44 
Yrs. 


1,882 
791 
531 

4,627 
178 
310 

3,633 

6,191 
166 

9,802 
185 
132 

1,496 


,914 

823 

65 


45-54 
Yrs. 


1,927 
970 
350 

4,672 
116 
160 

2,680 

3,400 
65 

4,067 
100 
111 
788 


2,378 

368 

34 


4,569  51,450  57,967  35,726  22,186  10,983  5,536  188,417 


55-64 
Yrs. 


65  yrs 
and 


1,656 

831 

172 

3,201 

29 

58 

1,429 

987 

29 

1,076 

60 

55 

295 


976 
11-1 
15 


1,179 

451 

70 

1,910 

14 

19 

720 

260 

12 

261 

42 

17 

124 


10,352 
4,466 
2,9f)0 

20,879 
1,072 
1,253 

14,241 

35,926 
1,118 

54,196 

1,520 

853 

10,171 


24,064 

5,093 

313 


The  table  on  page  45  shows  the  Negro  artisans  in  the 
sixteen  former  slave  states  and  the  District  of  Columbia.  In 
view  of  the  constant  migration  of  Negroes  to  urban  centers 
it  is  interesting  to  note  the  distribution  of  Negro  artisans 
in  such  places.  The  table  which  appears  on  page  46  is  com- 
piled from  the  twelfth  census  and  gives  the  Negro  artisans 
of  sixteen  large  cities  in  both  the  North  and  the  South.  The 
figures  show  that  the  skilled  Negro  workers  are  to  be  found 
chiefly  in  the  southern  cities,  which  fact  accounts  in  large  part 
for  the  attitude  of  the  local  trades  unions  toward  Negro 
laborers.  The  table  appearing  on  page  47  shows  the  ages  of 
Negro  artisans.  The  average  age  among  the  Negro  workers 
is  quite  low  and  argues  that  the  Negro  youths  are  started  to 
work  at  an  early  age  and  so  are  denied  the  opportunities  for 
that  education  which  should  be  afforded  them  in  their  forma- 
tive years  of  adolescence. 


48 


The   Negro  American  Artisan 


Section  6.     Alabama 

The  state  of  Alabama  had  827,307  Negroes  in  1900  and 
908,275  in  1910.  According  to  the  census  of  1900  the  state 
had  the  following  skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negroes:1 


Alabama 


Male — 

Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)    .    . 

Barbers 

Steam  railway  employees 

Brick  and  tile  makers       

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights   .    .    . 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 

Butchers 

Carpenters  and  joiners 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  op's   .    . 

Iron  and  steel  workers 

Machinists 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons . 


7 
657 

6,313 
544 
898 
335 
217 

1,807 
168 

4,439 


S59 


Male- 
Millers  

Painters  

Plasterers  

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 

Printers 

Steam  boiler  makers  .    .    . 


Engineers  and  firemen  (  stationary) 

Female — 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses    .    . 
Milliners 


73 

389 

204 

82 

43 

eo 

714 


1,318 


General  Conditions2 

Birmingham  :  Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here— carpenters,  masons, 
blacksmiths,  plasterers  and  machinists.  Negro  skilled  laborers  are  losing 
because  of  unions  and  poor  pay.  Industrial  school  training  has  made  very 
little  improvement  on  the  old,  self-made  artisan.  Not  many  of  the  young 
men  from  this  district  are  entering  the  trades.  Negro  artisans  are  not 
having  much  success  when  compared  with  the  white  artisans.  It  is  hard 
for  a  colored  man  to  get  skilled  labor  here  under  a  white  contractor. 

Florence:  There  are  not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here.  They 
follow  chiefly,  blacksmithing,  carpentering  and  shoemaking.  Negro 
skilled  labor  is  losing  here,  because  those  most  skilled  are  carried  else- 
where because  of  better  wages  and  steadier  work.  Industrial  school 
training  has  made  very  little  if  any  difference  here.  The  young  men  are 
not  entering  the  trades  but  those  already  in  are  succeeding  well. 

Mobile:  Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  are  here— brick  masons,  black- 
smiths, carpenters,  horseshoers  and  wheelwrights.  The  Negro  skilled 
laborers  are  gaining  here,  because  the  requirements  for  skilled  labor  are 
met  by  industrial  school  training.  The  young  men  enter  the  trades  pre- 
viously named,  in  great  numbers,  and  are  taking  the  place  of  the  old-time 
workmen,  thereby  showing  the  public  the  need  of  more  industrial  schools 
since  modern  times  demand  new  ideas. 

Montgomery:  Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— carpenters,  brick 
masons  and  painters.     Negro  skilled  laborers  are  gaining,  because  they 


'The  figures  given  in  this  section  and  following  sections  are  taken  from  the  "Twelfth 
Census  of  the  United  States,  1900.  Special  Reports.  Occupations."  They  are  the  only 
available  figures. 

-The  statements  of  general  conditions  given  in  this  and  following  sections  are  taken  from 
the  replies  received  from  correspondents  of  the  Conference. 


Alabama  49 

are  increasing  in  number  and  doing  more  work  for  their  own  race.  In- 
dustrial school  training  helps  in  acquiring  wealth,  but  it  does  not  make 
one  liberal  and  unselfish.  The  young  men  are  entering  the  trades  and  the 
artisans  in  this  community  are  having  more  than  medium  success. 

Talladega. —Average  number  of  Negro  artisans  here— carpenters, 
blacksmiths  and  brick  masons.  Negro  skilled  laborers  are  not  gaining 
fast,  because  of  common  race  prejudice  and  general  lack  of  steadiness. 
Very  little  results  of  industrial  school  training  visible  outside  of  schools 
founded  by  industrial  school  graduates.  The  young  men  are  entering  the 
trades  and  the  colored  artisans  on  the  whole  are  successful. 

Tuskegee. — Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — carpenters,  brick 
masons,  blacksmiths,  wheelwrights,  shce  makers  and  cabinet  makers. 
They  are  gaining  because  they  are  becoming  more  and  more  efficient  in 
the  trades.  The  results  of  industrial  school  training  are  that  many  men 
and  women  are  being  sent  out  as  skilled  workers.  The  young  men  are 
entering  the  trades  in  large  numbers.  The  Negro  artisans  in  this  com- 
munity are  doing  well. 

Replies  of  Artisans1 

Birmingham. —  Contracting  Electrician.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  union, 
tho  I  have  been  asked  to  join.  The  unions  are  not  particular  about  col- 
ored electricians  and  they  would  not  furnish  me  with  help  should  I  belong 
to  them,  which  would  handicap  my  business.  I  am  now  wiring  the  Ala- 
bama Penny  Savings  Bank  building  ($50,000)  and  a  dormitory  ($30,000). 
I  just  finished  the  Sixteenth  Street  Baptist  Church  ($50,000)  and  Sixth 
Avenue  Church  ($40,000),  besides  many  residences  ranging  from  $500  to 
$10,000  for  both  white  and  colored  people. 

Montgomery. —Painter.  Conditions  are  growing  better  for  the  Ne- 
gro skilled  worker  because  the  men  who  are  entering  the  trades  now  are 
steady  and  intelligent.  The  local  trade  conditions  among  Negroes  are 
encouraging.  Practically  all  of  the  brick  work,  lathing  and  plastering  is 
done  by  Negroes.  In  painting  and  carpentering  the  whites  and  blacks  are 
about  equal.  Plumbing  is  practically  a  white  trade  here.  Electricians 
are  divided  with  a  big  white  majority. 

Selma. —Merchant  Tailor.  I  employ  sixteen  workmen  and  do  an 
average  business  of  $16,000  or  $17,000  per  year.  I  work  five  white  tailors 
and  the  rest  colored.  Conditions  are  growing  better  for  the  Negro 
skilled  workers  because  they  are  growing  more  proficient. 


•The  replies  printed  in  this  section  and  following  sections  are  taken  from  the  questionnaires 
which  were  filled  out  and  returned  by  Negro  artisans. 


50 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


Section  7.     Arizona,  Colorado,  Nevada,  New  Mexico  and  Utah 

The  Negro  population  of  these  states  in  1900  and  1910  was 
as  follows: 

States 

Arizona 

Colorado 

Nevada 

New  Mexico 

Utah 


1900 

1910 

1,848 

2,067 

8,570 

11,453 

134 

513 

1,610 

1,628 

672 

1,143 

Total 12,£34  16,804 

The  census  of  1900  recorded  the  following  Negro  skilled  or 
semi-skilled  workmen  in  these  five  states  (and  territories) : 


Male- 
Barbers  202 

Steam  railway  employees 8) 

Brick  and  tile  makers 10 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights 21 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 10 

Butchers 4 

Carpenters  and  joiners 38 

Iron  and  steel  workers 165 

Machinists 5 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .   .  1C9 


Male- 
Painters  9 

Plasterers 18 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 5 

Printers 6 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  ...  22 

Female- 
Dressmakers,  seamstresses  and  milliners  73 
Pi  inters 2 


Section  8.     Arkansas 

Arkansas  had  366,856  Negroes  in  1900  and  442,891  in  1910. 
According  to  the  census  of  1900  the  state  had  the  following 
skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negro  laborers: 


Arkansas 


Male — 

Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  1 

Barbers 411 

Steam  lailway  employees 2,318 

Brick  and  tile  makers 93 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....  323 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 81 

Butchers   .   .    .       71 

Carpenters  and  joiners 569 

Iron  and  steel  workers 39 

Machinists 41 


Male- 
Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons 

Milleis 

Painters 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 

Pi  inters 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  . 

Female— 
Diessmakers  and  seamstresses  . 
Milliners 


184 
4 

103 
29 
26 

278 


399 

7 


General  Conditions 

Fort  Smith. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here;  a  few  carpen- 
ters, masons  and  blacksmiths.  He  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because 
of  manual  training  in  schools.  As  results  of  industrial  school  training, 
the  boys  who  enter  are  inclined  to  work  and  remain  in  school  longer,  and 
when  out,  readily  find  employment.  There  is  a  perceptible  increase  in 
the  number  of  young  men  entering  carpentry.  The  Negro  artisans  are 
having  fair  success  here. 

Poplar  GROVE.  -Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here;  a  few  car- 
penters  and  brick-layers.     Skilled  labor  among  Negroes  is  gaining  because 


Arkansas,  California  5  I 

their  work  is  proving  more  efficient.  A  vindication  of  Negro  labor  in  the 
trades  is  a  result  of  industrial  school  training.  The  young  men  are  enter- 
ing the  trades  very  slowly.  The  artisans  in  this  community  are  earning 
a  livelihood  and  stand  second  to  none.  Our  best  buildings  are  the  work  of 
Negro  artisans.  Our  near-by  villages  have  discarded  all  other  artisans 
where  the  Negro  skilled  labor  can  be  obtained. 

Texarkana.  —  Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — tailors,  carpenters, 
masons  and  smiths.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because 
of  the  sharpness  of  competition.  Industrial  school  training  causes  marked 
efficiency  and  steady  employment  with  good  pay  for  service.  The  young 
men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  artisans  are  receiving  good  pay  and 
steady  employment. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Brinkley. — Builder  and  Contractor.  I  can  build  anything  from  a 
pier  to  a  bank.  I  am  a  member  of  tne  B.  and  M.  I.  U.  of  America,  which 
organization  admits  both  white  and  Negro  members.  Conditions  are 
hardly  growing  better  because  bias,  selfish  interests  tend  to  push  the 
Negro  hard. 

Endora.  —  Tailor.  Conditions  are  growing  better  here  because  the 
people  in  this  section  are  looking  for  the  real  artisan  regardless  of  color 
and  learning  to  appreciate  the  substantial  rather  than  the  superficial. 

Section  9.     California 

The  state  of  California  had  11,045  Negroes  in  1900  and 
21,645  in  1910.  The  census  of  1900  recorded  the  following 
skilled  or  semi-skilled  Negro  laborers  for  the  state: 


California 

Male-                                                                            I  Male- 
Engineers  and  firemen  (C.  and  M.)  ...      1        Painters 23 

Baibers 170  !       Plasterers 20 


Steam  railway  employees 46 

Brick  and  tile  makers 9 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights 31 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 19 

Butchers       7 

Caipenters  and  joiners 41 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives  .  1 

In  n  and  steel  workers 8 

Machinists 2 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  .  33 


Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 3 

Printers 7 

Steam  boiler  makers 1 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  ...  6 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses 98 

Milliners 2 

Printers 3 

Tailoresses 8 


General  Conditions 

Oakland  and  San  Francisco. —Few  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— 
carpenters,  painters  and  plasterers.  Negro  skilled  labor  is  gaining  as  a 
result  of  industrial  training  because  the  industrial  schools  add  more  skill 
to  all  lines  of  work.  A  few  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The 
Negro  artisans  are  not  having  very  great  success  here  because  they  are 
barred  by  union  labor  organizations. 


52 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


Section  10.     Connecticut  and  Massachusetts 

The  Negro  population  of  these  states  in  1900  and  1910  was 

as  follows: 

States  1900  1910 

Connecticut 15,226  15,174 


Massachusetts 
Total.   .    .    . 


31,974 

47,200 


38,<  42 


The  census  of  1900  recorded  the  following  skilled  or  semi- 
skilled Negro  laborers  in  these  two  states: 


Connecticut  and  Massachusetts 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ....      5 

Barbers 383 

Steam  railway  employees 114 

Brick  and  tile  makers 19 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights 55 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 203 

Butchers       28 

Carpenters  and  joiners 148 

Cabinetmakers 3 

Cotton  and  other  textile  operatives  ...    46 

Iron  and  steel  workers 101 

Machinists 63 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  .  235 


Male- 
Millers    2 

Painters 125 

Plasterers 9 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters       39 

Printers 45 

Steam  boiler  makers 3 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  .    .144 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses 438 

Milliners 16 

Printeis 2 

Tailoresses 26 


General  Conditions 

New  Haven. — Not  many  Negro  artisans  here  in  proportion  to  the 
population.  They  are  mostly  carpenters,  masons  and  painters.  The  Ne- 
gro skilled  laborer  is  just  about  holding  his  own  because  the  younger 
element  is  not  looking  toward  the  trades.  The  success  of  the  Negro 
artisan,  on  the  whole,  is  fair. 

Haverhill. — Fair  number  of  Negro  skilled  laborers  here.  They  are 
engaged  chiefly  in  the  manufacture  of  shoes  and  are  just  holding  their 
own.  Industrial  school  training  would  give  the  Negro  a  decided  advan- 
tage here.  The  young  men  are  not  entering  the  trades  very  fast;  they 
are  more  inclined  to  do  menial  labor.     The  artisans  are  having  fair  success. 

PlTTSFlELD. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here.  The  Negro 
skilled  laborer  is  losing  because  race  prejudice  discourages  him. 


Section  11.     Delaware,  District  of  Columbia  and  Maryland 

The  Negro  population  of  these  geographical  divisions  in 
1900  and  1910  was  as  follows: 

States                               1900  1910 

Delaware 3",697  81,183 

District  of  Columbia 86,7<>2  94,446 

Maryland 286,064  282,249 

Total  352.463  867,876 


Florida  53 

The  census  of  1900  recorded  the  following  skilled  or  semi- 
skilled Negro  workers: 

Delaware,  District  of  Columbia  and  Maryland 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  7 

Barbers 1,202 

Steam  Railway  employees 884 

Brick  and  tile  makers 855 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....  289 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 288 

Butchers 151 

Caipenters  and  joiners 560  j 

Cabinet  makers 23 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives      15 

Iron  and  steel  workers 86') 

Machinists 44 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons .  982 


Male— 

Millers 22 

Painters 241 

Plasterers 210 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 103 

Printers 122 

Steam  boilermakers 1 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  .  562 

Female — 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  ....  2,646 

Milliners 6 

Printers 19 

Tailoresses 15 


General  Conditions 

Washington. —Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here.  They  are 
losing  because  of  labor  unions.  Very  little  results  of  industrial  school 
training  is  perceptible  save  in  the  increase  in  school  attendance.  A  few- 
young  men  are  becoming  engineers.     Those  in  the  trades  are  doing  well. 

Baltimore. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here  — carpenters, 
cement  layers,  shoemakers  and  printers.  The  Negro  is  losing  as  a  skilled 
laborer  because  of  insufficient  opportunity  for  intensive  industrial  train- 
ing. Industrial  school  training  has  caused  an  awakened  interest  of  edu- 
cated classes  in  the  need  for  artisans  in  the  community.  The  young  men 
are  entering  the  trades  in  a  very  slight  degree  only.  The  Negro  artisans 
are  producing  satisfactory  results  because  they  show  possibility  of  per- 
forming employment  in  practically  any  line. 

Section  12.     Florida 

There  were  230,730  Negroes  in  Florida  in  1900  and  308,669 
in  1910.  The  census  of  1900  recorded  the  following  skilled  or 
semi-skilled  Negro  laborers: 

Florida 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  6 

Barbers 352 

Steam  railway  employees  : 2,118 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  .           .  1% 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 99 

Butchers 120 

Carpenters  and  joiners 1,15'' 

Machinists 39 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .      287 


Male- 
Painters    218 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 37 

Pi  inters 29 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  .  394 

Female- 
Dress  makers  and  seamstresses  ....  891 
Milliners 2 


General  Conditions 

Greenville. —There  is  a  friendly  feeling  between  the  white  and  col- 
ored laborers  here,  largely  due  to  the  Negro's  preparation.  The  conditions 
are  growing  better  for  the  Negro  skilled  workers  because  they  can  do 
more  work  and  in  many  cases  better  work. 


54 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


Section  13.     Georgia 

The  state  of  Georgia  had  a  Negro  population  of  1,034,813 
in  1900  and  of  1,176,987  in  1910.  According  to  the  census  of 
1900  there  were  the  following  skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negro 
workers  in  the  state: 


Georgia 


Male — 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  6 

Baibers 1,116 

Steam  railway  employees 6,366 

Biick  and  tile  makeis 639 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....  1,230 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 664 

Butchers 353 

Carpenters  and  joiners 3,385 

Cabinet  makers 54 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives     3  5 

Iron  and  steel  workers 281 

Machinists 154 

Maible  and  stone  cutters 1,508 


Male- 
Millers    126 

Painters 855 

Plasterers 3>>9 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 139 

Pi  inters 68 

Steam  bciler  makers 33 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  .  836 

Female — 

Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  .   .    .    .  2,234 

Milliners 7 

Piinteis 3 

Tailoresses 25 


General  Conditions 

Albany.— Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here— carpenters,  masons  and 
blacksmiths.  Negro  skilled  labor  is  gaining  because  the  number  is  in- 
creasing. Industrial  school  training  has  caused  very  marked  results. 
Many  young  men  are  enteiing  the  trades.  The  success  among  the  artisans 
at  present  is  much  better  than  it  has  been  in  many  years. 

Americtjs. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here;  a  few  carpenters, 
masons  and  blacksmiths.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer.  In- 
dustrial school  training  has  produced  good  results.  Few  young  men  are 
entering  the  trades.     The  artisans  are  having  good  success. 

Covington.— Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here;  a  few  carpenters. 
The  Negro  skilled  laborer  is  gaining  because  the  attendance  in  trade  de- 
partments is  increasing.  Industrial  school  training  has  caused  improve- 
ment in  the  homes.  Many  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The 
artisans  find  ready  employment. 

Dawson. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here  — carpenters,  brickma- 
sons,  blacksmiths  and  tailors.  They  are  gaining  because  of  the  increase 
in  intelligence.  Very  little  results  of  industrial  school  training  evident 
in  this  community.  The  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  Negro 
artisans  are  succeeding  well. 

Fort  Valley.— Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here.  They  are  chiefly 
builders.  The  Negro  skilled  laborer  is  losing  here  because  he  does  not  fit 
himself  to  compete  with  the  trained  white  artisan.  Those  who  are  able 
to  hold  their  own  are  those  who  have  had  some  industrial  school  training. 
A  great  many  young  men  are  entering  the  trades,  but  they  are  going  in 
as  apprentices  and  can  hardly  attain  the  efficiency  to  cope  with  the 
trained  artisan.     The  Negro  trained  laborer  is  having  splendid  success. 


Georgia  55 

Harlem. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here  for  the  size  of  the  town — 
carpenters,  printers,  masons,  blacksmiths  and  engineers.  They  are 
gaining  because  of  competency  and  reliability.  As  results  of  industrial 
school  training  there  are  better  buildings,  better  kept  homes  and  scien- 
tific farming.  The  young  men  enter  the  trades  now  and  then  and  are 
having  great  success.     They  are  all  kept  busy. 

Hartwell. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here— carpenters  and  ma- 
sons. In  many  instances  they  are  losing  because  of  the  lack  of  constancy. 
Industrial  school  training  creates  thrift  and  industrial  habits.  Not  many 
young  men  in  this  section  entering  the  trades.  The  Negro  artisan  is 
having  moderate  success  here. 

La  Grange. — About  a  dozen  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— carpenters, 
bricklayers  and  plasterers.  They  are  losing  here  because  of  race  antipa- 
thy and  a  love  for  their  own  by  the  other  race.  Not  many  results  of 
industrial  school  training  visible  as  yet.  Few  such  students  have  come 
here.  Not  very  many  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  artisans 
are  making  a  moderate  living. 

Macon. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — brickmasons,  carpenters, 
tailors,  blacksmiths,  plasterers  and  painters.  I  am  unable  to  say 
whether  or  not  he  is  gaining,  but  the  demand  is  much  greater  than  the 
supply.  The  majority  of  the  graduates  of  industrial  schools  are  either  in 
the  civil  service  or  studying  or  practicing  some  profession.  Not  many 
young  men  entering  the  trades.  Most  of  the  brick  work  and  plastering 
is  done  by  colored  artisans.  Can  find  them  at  work  on  the  largest  and 
finest  buildings.  We  have  at  least  two  Negro  contractors,  whose  patrons 
are  almost  exclusively  of  the  other  race. 

Stanfordville. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here.  They  fol- 
low farming  chiefly.  The  Negro  skilled  laborer  is  losing  here,  because 
before  the  Civil  War  it  was  customary  to  put  Negro  boys  under  a  good 
artisan  as  apprentices  to  learn  certain  trades.  With  freedom  these  con- 
ditions passed  away  and  Negro  men  as  a  whole  are  not  inclined  for  their 
boys  to  learn  trades.  Very  little  results  of  industrial  training  perceptible. 
The  sewing  and  cooking  departments  of  many  of  the  American  Mission- 
ary Association  schools  produce  very  marked  results  among  the  Negro 
women.  The  Negro  artisans  receive  all  the  patronage  of  the  community 
from  both  races.     Efficient  work  is  all  that  is  required. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Albany. — Contractor  and  Builder.  There  are  more  colored  workmen 
here  than  white,  hence  the  feeling  is  fairly  good.  Conditions  are  grow- 
ing better  for  the  Negro  skilled  worker.  This  is  the  day  of  the  survival 
of  the  fittest  in  the  mechanical  world  and  especially  here  in  southwest 
Georgia. 


56  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Americus.  —Contracting  Plasterer  and  Brick  Mason.  I  am  a  mem- 
ber of  Union  No.  19,  Georgia,  B.  and  M.  I.  U.  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  Conditions  are  improving  slightly.  The  Negro  can  do  more 
and  better  work  in  a  given  time  and  have  less  to  say  about  it  and  give 
the  contractor  less  trouble.  While  some  contractors  favor  the  white  me- 
chanic as  a  general  thing  the  work  is  more  progressive  with  the  Negro  at 
his  post.  The  Negro  workers  need  to  learn  about  plan  reading  and  thoroly 
fit  themselves  for  their  work. 

Americus.  —Contractor  and  Builder.  Conditions  seem  to  be  standing 
because  white  workers  are  coming  in  and  preventing  the  Negro  workers 
from  having  so  much  to  do.  Perhaps  the  colored  workman  would  do 
better  if  he  possessed  more  stability  and  reliability.  There  would  be  a 
greater  demand  for  his  work. 

Atlanta. — Bricklayer.  Conditions  are  growing  better  for  the  Negro 
skilled  worker  because  the  class  of  work  done  at  present  demands  the 
skilled  workman.  I  was  secretary  of  B.  and  M.  I.  U.  No.  6  of  Georgia 
for  five  years,  said  union  being  colored.  Whites  and  Negroes  have  sepa- 
rate unions  but  their  laws  and  government  are  the  same,  each  receiving 
charter  and  regulations  from  the  executive  board  of  the  B.  and  M.  I.  U. 
of  America. 

Atlanta.  —Plumber.  I  have  made  several  attempts  to  join  the  union 
but  have  been  refused  because  of  my  color.  Conditions  are  growing  bet- 
ter for  the  Negro  workers  because  skill  is  able  to  compete  with  skill  and 
the  men  of  the  other  race  who  are  in  the  field  find  that  they  must  forget 
prejudice,  etc.,  in  order  to  keep  abreast  with  their  rivals.  A  few  years 
ago  the  supply  houses  in  Atlanta  would  not  sell  material  of  any  kind  to  a 
Negro  master  plumber  but  now  they  vie  with  each  other  in  giving  us  the 
best  of  goods  at  the  lowest  possible  wholesale  prices. 

Atlanta. — Brick  Mason.  There  is  the  same  prejudice  and  discrim- 
ination as  in  other  fields  of  labor.  Negro  contractors  are  barred  even 
from  the  architects'  offices.  About  one  per  cent  of  these  offices  are  open 
to  Negroes.  In  some  cases  it  has  come  under  my  observation  that  even 
if  a  Negro  has  equal  ability  and  in  some  instances  a  lower  bid  he  is  barred 
or  the  job  is  given  to  his  white  opponent. 

Bainbridge.  —  Horse  Shoer.  There  is  a  very  good  feeling  between 
the  white  and  colored  workers  here.  There  is  a  class  of  white  and  colored 
people  here  that  can  get  together  and  settle  any  difference.  I  came  to 
this  town  about  ten  years  ago  by  an  invitation  from  the  mayor  and  chief 
of  police  to  establish  a  business.  They  have  stood  by  me  as  they  would 
stand  by  a  white  man. 

Gibson.  Blacksmith  and  Buggy  Builder.  So  far  as  blacksmithing  is 
concerned  it  is  simply  a  matter  of  efficiency  of  the  workman.  Conditions 
are  growing  better  because  the  masses  are  being  educated  to  the  imme- 


linois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin 


57 


diate  needs  of  their  community,  thus  making  themselves  useful.  I  have 
been  establisht  here  four  years.  All  of  the  county's  work  in  general 
repairing  on  road  machines,  carts,  dumps,  wheelers  is  done  at  my  place. 
Oxford. — Carpenter  and  Builder.  Conditions  are  growing  better 
because  the  richer  and  better  class  of  whites  has  now  reached  the  place 
where  the  skill  of  the  workman  and  not  the  color  of  his  skin  is  considered. 
I  finished  one  of  the  finest  white  churches  in  Covington  and  a  twelve-room 
dwelling  for  a  white  banker's  son.  I  can  use  any  man's  blue  print  if  it 
can  be  worked  by  the  scale. 


Section  14.     Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin 

The  Negro  population  in  these  states  in  1900  and  1910  was 

as  follows: 


States 


Illinois  .  . 
Indiana  .  . 
Michigan  . 
Minnesota. 
Wisconsin 

Total.   . 


1900 

1910 

85,078 

109,041 

57,505 

60,280 

15,816 

17,115 

4,959 

7,084 

2,542 

2,900 

196,420 


According  to  the  census  of  1900  these  states  had  the  follow- 
ing Negro  skilled  or  semi-skilled  workers: 

Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  .Minnesota,  Wisconsin 


Male— 

Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  7 

Barbers 2,135 

Steam  railway  employees 1,030 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....  226 

Brick  and  tile  makers 187 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 82 

Butchers 147 

Carpenters  and  joiners 353 

Cabinet  makers 18 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives  20 

Iron  and  steel  workers 441 

Machinists 83 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons .  .  824 


Male- 
Millers 38 

Painters 289 

Plasterers 257 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 63 

Printers 94 

Steam  boiler  makers 6 

Engineers  and  firemen  (  stationary  )    .  575 


Female— 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses 

Milliners 

Printers 

Tailoresses , 


1,179 

24 

7 

14 


General  Conditions 


Chicago. —Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— carpenters,  plum- 
bers, brick-layers  and  plasterers.  The  Negro  artisan  is  losing  because 
of  labor  unions  and  competition.  Industrial  school  training  is  producing 
good  results  where  skilled  workmen  are  turned  out.  Very  few  young 
men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  artisans  are  having  small  success  in  a 
general  way.     Some  few  are  doing  excellently. 

Minneapolis. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here— carpenters, 
plasterers  and  contractors.  As  a  skilled  laborer  the  Negro  is  gaining 
because  of  his  superior  work.  Not  many  young  men  are  entering  the 
trades.     The  artisans  are  succeeding  well. 


58 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


St.  Paul. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— shoe  makers,  tai- 
lors, cleaners  and  pressers.  The  Negro  skilled  laborer  is  not  gaining 
because  of  a  lack  of  "get  up."  No  results  of  industrial  school  training 
are  evident.     The  Negro  young  men  are  not  entering  the  trades. 


Section  15.     Iowa  and  Kansas 

The  Negro  population  of  Iowa  and  Kansas  for  1900  and 
1910  was  as  follows: 


States  1900 

Iowa 12,693 

Kansas 52,003 


Total 64,696 


1910 

15,078 

54,504 

69,582 


According  to  the  census  of  1900  these  two  states  had  the 
following  skilled  or  semi-skilled  Negro  laborers: 


Iowa  and  Kansas 


Male- 
Barbers  496 

Steam  railway  employees 540 

Brick  and  tile  makers 96 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights 128 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 44 

Butchers 79 

Carpenters  and  joiners 127 

Cabinet  makers 2 

Iron  and  steel  workers 80 

Machinists 17 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  .  291 
Millers 20 


|  Male- 
Painters  55 

Plasterers 157 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 20 

Printers 30 

Steam  boiler  makers 3 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)     .    .  138 


Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses 

Printers 

Tailoresses 


199 
5 

1 


General  Conditions 

Des  Moines. — About  thirty  Negro  skilled  laborers  here  — two  carpen- 
ters, six  masons,  three  linotypers,  one  printer,  five  chauffeurs,  one  lathe 
worker,  five  modiste's  and  seven  manicurists.  Very  few  young  men  are 
entering  the  trades.     The  artisans  are  succeeding  very  well. 

Atchison. — The  Negro  skilled  laborer  is  in  evidence  here.  The 
largest  blacksmith  and  repair  shop  in  the  state  of  Kansas  is  in  this  city. 
It  is  kept  by  a  Negro  whose  income  is  said  to  be  more  than  $8,000  a  year. 

Lawrence. —Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — blacksmiths, 
marble  cutters,  electric  wirers,  plumbers  and  carpenters.  The  Negro  is 
gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because  he  has  begun  to  recognize  the  need 
for  efficiency  in  order  to  be  steadily  employed.  The  results  of  industrial 
school  training  are  very  apparent — increased  efficiency,  increased  self  re- 
spect and  aspiration,  and  respect  from  the  opposite  race.  The  artisans 
here  are  successful  in  keeping  busy  all  of  their  time.  They  are  promoted 
and  their  salaries  are  frequently  raised. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Des  Moines. —  Dressmaker.  There  is  no  union  here  of  members  of 
my  trade.     It    there   were,  I   could   join   along  with    the  white   workers. 


Kentucky  59 

They  treat  me  as  well  as  they  treat  each  other  and  the  Negro  woman 
who  learns  her  trade  well  has  the  same  chance  that  the  white  girls  have. 
I  have  worked  at  my  trade  for  more  than  ten  years.  I  have  held  positions 
in  some  of  the  largest  white  establishments  in  this  state  as  manager  and 
as  head  waist  maker  and  have  always  been  well  treated. 

Des  Moines. —Mechanic.  Conditions  are  growing  better.  Negroes 
hold  good  positions  when  competent,  providing  they  are  self-respecting 
and  stick  to  business.  I  am  hopeful  for  Negro  skilled  workmen.  We 
should  have  more  of  them.  I  believe,  tho,  the  Negroes  should  organize 
and  own  and  operate  business  for  themselves. 

Section  16.     Kentucky 

The  state  of  Kentucky  had  284,706  Negroes  in  1900  and 
261,656  in  1910.  According  to  the  twelfth  census  the  state 
had  the  following  skilled  or  semi-skilled  Negro  laborers: 


Kentucky 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...         4 

Barbers 812 

Steam  railway  employees 2,384 

Brick  and  tile  makers .      342 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ...      539 


Male- 
Millers    76 

Painters 234 

Plasterers 285 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 37 

Printers 21 


Boot  and  shoe  makers 116        Steam  boiler  makers 5 


But-hers 98 

Carpenters  and  joiners 701 

Cabinetmakers 11 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives  117 

Iron  and  steel  workers 370 

Machinists 35 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  757 


Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  .  431 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  ....  721 

Milliners 7 

Printers 2 

Tailoresses 4 


General  Conditions 

Bowling  Green. —Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here— carpenters, 
blacksmiths  and  stone  masons.  They  are  gaining  because  the  skilled 
laborer  has  no  trouble  in  getting  work.  All  who  desire  to  work  are  kept 
busy.  Those  artisans  coming  from  our  industrial  schools  are  doing  well; 
the  better  prepared  they  are  the  better  they  succeed.  Not  very  many 
young  men  entering  the  trades,  but  a  surprising  number  considering  the 
sentiment.     Sentiment  is  getting  better  and  they  are  succeeding. 

Frankfort. —  Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here  in  proportion  to  the 
population— carpenters,  plasterers,  engineers,  stone  masons,  firemen, 
shoe  makers,  paper  hangers  and  decorators.  The  Negro  skilled  laborers 
are  losing  slightly  because  they  are  not  as  steadily  employed  as  heretofore 
and  many  have  moved  to  other  towns  and  cities.  Industrial  school  train- 
ing causes  those  having  trades  to  receive  better  wages  and  to  be  more 
self-sustaining  and  independent.  Fewyoungmen  are  entering  the  trades; 
not  enough,  tho.  Most  of  the  artisans  are  substantial  citizens,  possessing 
homes  of  their  own  besides  other  property.  Many  of  these  homes  are 
unusually  modern,  commodious  and  good. 


60  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Hawesville. —Three  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— two  blacksmiths 
and  a  tinner.  They  are  gaining  because  the  demand  for  their  labor  is 
increasing.  Industrial  school  training  causes  better  pay  and  greater  de- 
mand for  their  service.  The  young  men  are  entering  the  trades  slowly 
but  the  success  is  encouraging. 

Henderson. — An  average  number  of  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — 
carpenters  and  blacksmiths.  They  are  seemingly  holding  their  own. 
Few  young  men  enter  the  trades.  The  artisans  are  succeeding  when 
efficient. 

Lebanon. —  Few  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— plasterers,  carpenters 
and  stone  masons.  They  are  losing  because  the  older  skilled  laborers  are 
dying  and  the  young  men  have  not  learned  the  trades.  The  young  men 
are  not  entering  the  trades.     The  success  of  the  artisans  is  only  moderate. 

Lexington. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — plumbers,  black- 
smiths, tinners,  carpenters,  painters,  brick-layers,  stone  masons,  silver 
smiths  and  tailors.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because 
there  are  more  here  now  than  fifteen  years  ago.  Industrial  school  train- 
ing has  produced  good  results.  The  people  are  learning  that  labor  is 
honorable,  understanding  that  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow  you  must  earn 
what  you  eat.     The  artisans  are  succeeding  finely. 

Richmond. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here— carpenters,  masons, 
engineers,  blacksmiths,  tailors,  upholsterers  and  tinners.  The  skilled 
laborer  is  gaining  because  he  is  much  in  demand.  If  a  Negro  can  do  good 
work  he  need  not  fear  the  white  man,  but  he  loses  when  his  work  does 
not  come  up  to  the  white  man's.  We  need  more  skilled  laborers  here. 
There  are  wide  fields  open  to  the  skilled  laborer  here.  We  have  to  give 
our  work  to  the  white  man  because  the  Negro  cannot  do  it.  The  industrial 
school  training  is  doing  a  great  thing  for  the  young  Negro.  He  is  going 
out  into  the  world  and  doing  business  for  himself.  He  is  his  own  boss 
and  is  making  good  money.  Where  he  at  one  time  worked  under  a  boss 
for  three  dollars  per  week,  he  is  now  making  under  his  own  management 
ten  and  fifteen  dollars  per  week.  Many  young  men  are  entering  the 
trades.     The  Negro  artisans  are  succeeding  very  well. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Frankfort.  Shoe  Maker  and  Repairer.  There  is  a  friendly  feeling 
between  the  white  and  colored  workers  in  my  trade  here.  I  have  had 
white  shoe  makers  work  for  me.  My  shop  is  equipt  with  modern  ma- 
chines and  I  made  them  pay  for  themselves.  I  enjoy  a  nice  trade  from 
both  white  and  Negro  patrons. 

Frankfort.  General  Contractor  and  Builder.  Conditions  are  not  so 
good  here  because  of  growing  race  prejudice  and  because  there  are  not 
young  men  enough  learning  the  trade.     I  came  to  Frankfort  in  1883  and  Cor 


Louisiana 


61 


eight  years  thereafter  my  work  was  for  white  contractors.  Since  that 
time  I  have  been  contracting  for  myself  and  have  had  as  many  as  seventy- 
five  men  under  my  employ  at  one  time.  None  of  the  white  contractors 
in  Frankfort  now  will  employ  colored  mechanics. 

Hawesville. — Blacksmith.  There  exists  a  friendly  feeling  here 
between  colored  and  white  workers.  I  think  conditions  are  growing  bet- 
ter for  the  Negro  laborer  because  he  does  better  work  with  less  conten- 
tion with  contractors. 

Henderson. — Blacksmith.  There  is  an  exceedingly  friendly  and 
congenial  feeling  between  the  white  and  colored  workers  here,  hardly  any 
prejudice  existing  as  far  as  trade  relations  are  concerned.  As  I  see  it 
the  country  is  demanding  efficiency  and  satisfactory  results  and  if  the 
Negro  mechanic  can  produce  these  he  is  sure  to  get  recognition  and  con- 
sideration. 


Section  17.     Louisiana 

The  state  of  Louisiana  had  650,804  Negroes  in  1900  and 
713,874  in  1910.  The  twelfth  census  (1900)  recorded  the  fol- 
lowing skilled  or  semi-skilled  Negroes  for  the  state: 


Louisiana 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  14 

Barbers 515 

Steam  railway  employees 3,086 

Brick  and  tile  makers 339 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....  700 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 304 

Butchers 195 

Carpenters  and  joiners 1,711 


Cabinet  makers 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives 

Iron  and  steel  workers 

Machinists 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons. 


Male- 
Millers    31 

Painters 354 

Plasterers 271 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 27 

Printers 60 

Steam  boiler  makers 7 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)    .  504 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  ....  2,241 

Milliners 12 

Tailoresses 99 


General  Conditions 

Baton  Rouce.  —  Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here  — carpenters,  brick 
masons,  plasterers,  painters  and  decorators.  The  Negro  artisan  is  hold- 
ing his  own  here  because  there  are  not  so  many  white  artisans  and  the 
Negro  gives  full  satisfaction.  Very  many  young  men  are  entering  the 
trades.     The  Negro  skilled  laborers  are  having  fair  success. 

Monroe. —Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here  — carpenters,  masons, 
painters,  plasterers,  etc.  The  Negro  skilled  laborer  is  gaining  because 
of  his  efficiency  in  whatever  he  has  a  chance  to  do.  Whenever  the  trained 
man  is  given  work  he  does  it  commendably  no  matter  where  trained,  in 
school  or  out.  The  training  is  the  necessity  and  should  be  given  to  all. 
The  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.     The  Negro  artisan  is  having 


62  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

such  success  as  should  be  reasonably  expected  from  one  who  does  his  duty 
with  an  open  chance  before  him. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Baton  Rouge.— Contractor  and  Brick-layer.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  trade 
union  at  present  for  the  union  went  to  the  bad  here  more  than  a  year  ago. 
At  that  time  we  had  quite  a  number  of  whites  in  our  organization,  tho 
we  Negroes  had  the  majority.  I  think  conditions  are  growing  better  for 
the  Negro  skilled  worker.  He  does  his  work  as  a  rule  with  more  taste 
and  does  more  in  an  allotted  time.  That  within  itself  is  the  solution  of 
the  work  problem.  The  man  who  has  work  to  be  done  employs  as  a  rule 
the  man  who  puts  up  the  most  complete  package.  The  majority  of  the 
mechanics  in  Baton  Rouge  are  colored  and  they  own  an  enormous  amount 
of  real  estate.  We  have  any  quantity  of  jack-leg  white  carpenters  who 
dislike  working  with  the  colored  brother  but  they  need  his  assistance  to 
such  an  extent  that  they  work  with  him,  tho  with  reluctancy.  In  other 
words,  they  simply  can't  do  without  the  colored  man  in  the  trades.  We 
have  two  colored  men  here  who  have  been  contracting  for  twenty  years. 
They  are  highly  considered  by  the  white  people  and  do  principally  all  of 
the  city  work.  They  are  now  engaged  in  putting  another  story  on  one  of 
the  largest  hotels  in  the  city. 

Monroe. — Plasterer.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  trade  union  because  I  do 
not  endorse  the  methods  adopted  by  trade  unions  to  enforce  their  claims. 
An  amicable  relation  exists  between  the  white  and  colored  workers  of  my 
trade  in  this  place.  I  fear  conditions  are  not  growing  better  for  the 
Negro  skilled  worker  because  of  the  very  small  number  with  a  liberal 
education  that  are  engaged  in  the  trades. 

New  Orleans. — Electrician.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  trade  union  because 
the  union  here  will  not  admit  a  Negro.  I  believe  the  conditions  for  the 
Negro  skilled  worker  are  growing  better  because  the  world  is  now  looking 
for  the  man  who  can  deliver  the  goods.  My  experience  in  this  city  has 
been  interesting.  My  work  is  inspected  and  approved  by  a  board  known 
as  the  Louisiana  Fire  Prevention  Bureau.  The  city  electrician  also 
approves  my  work. 

Section  18.     Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  Vermont 

The  Negro  population  in  these  states  in  1900  and  1910  was 
as  follows: 

States  t900  nun 

Maine 1,819  1,864 

New  Hampshire 662  564 

Rhode  Island 9,1  92  9,629 

Vermont 826  1,621 


Total 11,899  13,078 


Mississippi 


63 


According  to  the  census  of  1900  these  states  contained  the 
following  skilled  or  semi-skilled  Negro  workers: 

Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  Vermont 


Male- 
Barbers  106 

Steam  railway  employees 33 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights 19 

Brick  and  tile  makers 1 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 13 

Butchers   .    * 11 

Carpenters  and  joiners 34 

Cabinet  makers 2 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives  .  24 

Iron  and  steel  workers 16 

Machinists 17 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .   .  59 


Male- 
Painters    38 

Plasterers 3 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters       6 

Printers 3 

Steam  boiler  makers 1 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  ...  25 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses 136 

Milliners 3 

Printers 1 

Tailoresses 4 


Section  19.      Mississippi 

The  state  of  Mississippi  had  a  Negro  population  of  907, 630 
in  1900  and  of  1,009,487  in  1910.  According  to  the  census  of 
1900  there  were  the  following  skilled  or  semi-skilled  Negro 
workers  in  the  state: 


Mississippi 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  .  .  3 

Barbers 486 

Steam  railway  employees 4,681 

Brick  and  tile  makers 460 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....      663 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 152 

Butchers 183 

Carpenters  and  joiners 1,497 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives      14 

Iron  and  steel  workers 48 

Machinists 52 


Male — 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  392 

Millers 15 

Painters 227 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 27 

Printers 27 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary  ).  .  479 


Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses 
Milliners 


1,112 
8 


General  Conditions 

Holly  Springs. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here  —  black- 
smiths, carpenters  and  brick  masons.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled 
laborer  because  his  services  are  always  in  demand.  Industrial  school 
training  has  produced  efficiency  and  reliability.  Only  a  few  young  men 
are  entering  the  trades. 

Indianola.  —  Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — contractors,  foremen, 
carpenters,  brick-layers,  electricians,  engineers,  blacksmiths,  agricultur- 
ists, etc.  The  Negro  artisan  is  gaining  in  proportion  to  his  skill.  There 
are  more  demands  for  laborers  trained  in  industrial  schools  than  for  the 
unskilled.  Some  of  the  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  artisans 
of  this  community  are  attaining  competence  and  material  and  business 
rating  of  a  high  order. 

Natchez. — About  twenty  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — carpenters, 
masons,  plasterers,  painters,   blacksmiths  and    chauffeurs.     The    skilled 


64  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Negro  laborers  are  gaining  here  because  of  proficiency.  Industrial  school 
training  turns  out  better  workmen.  The  young  men  are  entering  the 
trades.     The  Negro  artisans  are  having  fair  success  here. 

Vicksburg.  — Many  skilled  laborers  here — carpenters,  blacksmiths, 
masons,  paper  hangers,  cement  workers,  plasterers,  painters  and  uphols- 
terers. In  some  respects  they  are  losing  because  of  prejudice.  First, 
eleven  years  ago  there  was  not  a  contractor  here  who  did  not  work  Ne- 
groes, now  the  leading  contractor  does  not  employ  a  single  Negro  carpen- 
ter. Secondly,  because  the  Negro  as  a  carpenter  does  not  acquire  the 
skill  of  the  finished  workman.  There  are  more  Negro  brick-layers  than 
white  and  they  get  work  with  all  the  contractors.  The  best  cement 
worker  and  plasterer  in  town  is  a  Negro.  The  third  reason  that  the  Ne- 
gro is  losing  is  that  there  are  no  young  men  entering  the  trades  to  fill  the 
old  workmen's  places.  Not  many  workmen  here  who  have  attended  in- 
dustrial schools.  The  Negro  artisans  are  having  fair  success;  that  is, 
they  make  money.  The  brick  masons  and  cement  workers  do  not  accu- 
mulate very  much. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Indianola. — Carpenter.  A  fairly  good  feeling  exists  between  the 
white  and  colored  workers  in  this  section.  Conditions  are  growing  bet- 
ter for  the  Negro  skilled  worker  because  ability  is  the  thing  needed  and 
most  contractors  (private  parties)  have  seen  that  the  skilled  Negro  me- 
chanic is  a  money  saver. 

Natchez. — Mason.  I  am  a  member  of  Natchez  Union,  No.  7,  being 
permitted  to  join  with  the  white  workers.  I  think  conditions  are  growing 
better  for  the  Negro  skilled  laborer. 

Vicksburg. — Contracting  Brick-layer.  There  is  a  good  feeling  be- 
tween the  white  and  colored  workers  here  and  the  conditions  are  growing 
better  for  the  Negro  skilled  workers.  I  am  president  of  the  Brick-layers' 
Union,  to  which  both  whites  and  Negroes  belong. 

Vicksburg. — Decorator.  Conditions  are  growing  better  for  the  Ne- 
gro skilled  laborer  because  thoro  training  is  giving  him  confidence  in  him- 
self and  is  demonstrating  the  Negro's  ability  to  render  competent  service. 
When  I  began  this  work  I  had  no  intention  whatever  of  remaining  in  the 
trade;  but  finding  it  a  lucrative  trade  I  applied  myself  diligently,  always 
with  a  desire  to  excel.  As  a  result  my  reputation  as  a  workman  grew 
and  today  I  cannot  accept  all  the  work  offered  me. 

Yazoo  City. —Contractor  and  Builder.  Conditions  are  growing  bet- 
ter for  the  Negro  skilled  worker  because  he  is  learning  to  see  how  well 
he  can  do  what  is  entrusted  to  him  instead  of  how  little  he  can  do  for  the 
money  that  is  paid  him.  I  teach  my  men  to  do  their  work  so  well  that 
no  one  else  can  improve  upon  it;  the  importance  of  doing  their  best  at  all 
times.      I  believe  it  is  largely  this  that  keeps  me  busy. 


Missouri  65 


Section  20.     Missouri 


The  state  of  Missouri  had  a  Negro  population  of  161,234 
in  1900  and  of  157,452  in  1910.  The  census  of  1900  recorded 
the  following  skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negro  workers  for  the 
state: 

Missouri 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ....      2 

Barbers 910 

Steam  railway  employees 769 

Brick  and  tile  makers 275 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights 187 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 55 

Butchers       116 

Carpenters  and  joiners 219 

Cabinet  makers 5 

Cotton  and  other  textile  operatives 


Male- 
Millers    29 

Painters 66 

Plasterers 212 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters       30 

Printers 37 

Steam  boiler  makers 3 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  .    .  411 


Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses 412 

Iron  and  steel  workers 243  I      Milliners 2 

Machinists 23        Printeis 2 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  .  798  I      Tailoresses 4 


General  Conditions 

Boonville. — Several  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— two  carpenters, 
two  masons,  two  engineers  and  a  plumber.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a 
skilled  laborer.  The  number  has  increased  slightly  in  ten  years.  As  re- 
sults of  industrial  school  training  we  have  an  engineer  and  a  carpenter. 
Only  three  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  artisans  here  are 
succeeding  well. 

Chillicothe. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — a  few  black- 
smiths, engineers  and  masons,  a  few  gardeners  and  farmers,  while  the 
majority  are  day  laborers.  The  Negro  is  losing  as  a  skilled  laborer  be- 
cause he  is  not  pursuing  it  extensively.  In  this  section  he  is  not  taking 
up  the  work.  Those  who  do  follow  it  find  employment  readily.  There 
are  no  persons  here  from  an  industrial  school.  The  young  men  are  not 
entering  the  trades.  The  Negro  skilled  laborer  is  succeeding  where  he 
can  do  the  work. 

Dalton. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here  — carpenters,  plas- 
terers and  painters.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because 
of  large  openings.  Many  results  visible  in  every  way  of  industrial  school 
training,  especially  in  the  trained  farmers.  Some  young  men  are  entering 
the  trades.     The  Negro  artisan  is  succeeding  well  in  this  community. 

Maryville.  —  Practically  no  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — a  few  plas- 
terers and  house-cleaners.  Those  laboring  in  these  occupations  are  very 
proficient.  There  is  no  gain  in  the  number  because  organized  white  labor 
does  all  of  the  skilled  work  and  there  are  too  few  Negroes  to  organize. 
There  are  no  Negro  workmen  trained  in  industrial  schools  in  this  city. 
The  young  men  are  not  entering  the  trades.  What  Negro  artisans  there 
are  are  having  splendid  success. 


66  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

St.  Louis. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— brick-layers, 
carpenters,  plumbers,  blacksmiths,  paper-hangers  and  plasterers.  The 
Negro  is  not  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because  of  lack  of  motive  and 
inclination.  Industrial  school  training  promises  much.  Not  many  young 
men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  Negro  artisan  as  far  as  he  is  efficient 
is  succeeding  splendidly. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Boonville. — Contracting  Brick-layer  and  Plasterer.  There  is  a  good 
feeling  here  between  the  white  and  colored  workers  in  my  trade.  I  fre- 
quently hire  white  plasterers.  Conditions  are  growing  better  for  the 
Negro  skilled  laborer. 

Dalton. — Carpenter.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  union,  tho  I  could  join 
with  the  whites.  An  agreeable  feeling  exists  between  the  races  in  my 
trade.     Conditions  grow  better  as  the  Negro  workers  master  their  trade's. 

St.  Louis. — Stone  Cutter.  I  am  a  member  of  the  Building  Laborers' 
International  Protective  Union,  Local  No.  3,  a  Negro  union.  Negroes 
cannot  join  with  the  whites.  The  conditions  can  hardly  be  said  to  be 
growing  better  here  for  there  are  not  enough  Negroes  in  the  trades  to 
make  it  so.  I  could  put  many  to  work  if  they  were  qualified.  We  have 
a  few  plasterers  and  brick-layers  working  here,  but  they  cannot  get  into 
the  unions  here  on  account  of  past  dealings  with  white  unions  in  regard 
to  colored  hod  carriers'  union.  We  have  seven-tenths  of  the  work  here 
now. 

St.  Louis. — Electrician.  I  do  not  belong  to  the  union  because  Ne- 
groes are  not  admitted  to  Electrical  Workers'  Union  in  the  state  of 
Missouri.  Conditions  are  growing  better  because  the  Negroes  are  build- 
ing more  homes  and  business  places  for  themselves  in  St.  Louis.  Negro 
plumbers  are  in  great  demand  here,  there  being  only  one  finished  plumber 
here  at  present.  The  Negro  tradesmen  need  a  leader  to  go  to  the  front 
for  them  and  I  think  they  will  be  able  to  get  into  the  unions  then.  I 
could  get  three  times  as  much  work  if  I  could  join  the  Electrical  Workers' 
Union.  As  I  am  the  only  finished  Negro  electrician  here  I  cannot  fight 
the  union  alone.  There  are  six  other  unfinished  Negro  electricians  here 
who  do  very  good  work. 

Section  21.     New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania 

The  Negro  population  of  New  York,  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania  in  1900  and  1910  was  as  follows: 

States  1900                   una 

New  York 99,232  131.' 

New  Jersey 69,844  89,760 

Pennsylvania 156,845  193,!»os 

Total 325,921  417,849 


New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  67 

The  census  of  1900  recorded  the  following  Negro  skilled  or 
semi-skilled  laborers  for  these  three  states: 

New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania 


Male- 
Millers    20 

Painters 430 

Plasterers 172 

Plumbers  and  g-as  fitters 119 

Printers 200 

Steam  boiler  makers 9 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  .  797 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...        26 

Barbers 2,461 

Steam  railway  employees 674 

Brick  and  tile  makers 2,744 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....      244 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 169 

Butchers 112 

Carpenters  and  joiners 438 

Cabinet  makers 22  I  Female — 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives       43  I      Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  .   .    .    .  2,754 

Iron  and  steel  workers 1,764  I      Milliners 24 

Machinists 157         Printers 4 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  1,644  ,      Tailoresses .        32 

Two  recent  studies  of  the  economic  status  of  the  Negro  in 
York  City1  show  that  in  the  skilled  trades  "the  Negro  is  con- 
spicuous by  his  absence.     Only  four  in  every  thousand  where 

there  should  be  eighteen The  census  division  of 

mechanical  pursuits  shows  only  a  few  colored  men  working 
at  trades,  and  the  paucity  of  the  numbers  is  often  attributed 
by  the  Negro  to  a  third  obstacle  in  the  way  of  his  progress, 
the  trade  union."2  Hence  in  New  York  City  "Negroes  are 
crowded  into  these  poorer  paid  occupations  because  many 
of  them  are  inefficient  and  because  of  the  color  prejudice  on 
the  part  of  white  workmen  and  employers.  Both  of  these 
influences  are  severe  handicaps  in  the  face  of  the  competition 
in  this  advanced  industrial  community."'5  As  to  the  wages 
and  efficiency  of  the  Negro  workers  in  New  York  City,  Dr. 
Haynes  says:4 

The  wages  of  skilled  trades  do  not  affect  the  larger  part  of  the  Negro 
population,  because  so  small  a  percentage  are  engaged  in  these  occupa- 
tions  It  is  evident  that  compared  with  the  large  number  of 

Negro  workers  few  are  engaged  in  the  skilled  trades,  join  the  unions,  and 

thus  enter  into  the  more  highly-paid  occupations The  small 

number  of  skilled  artisans  who  are  equal  to  or  above  the  average  white 
workman  and  can  get  into  the  unions  receive  the  union  wages. 

The  following  statistics  for  Negroes  in  New  York  City  are 
of  interest: 


1  Miss  Ovingrton:  Half  a  Man.     Dr.  Haynes:  The  Negro  at  Work  in  New  York  City. 
-Ovintfton:  Op.  cit.,  pp.  89,  95.  ;  Haynes:  Op.  cit.,  pp.  76,  77. 

•Haynes:  Ibid,  pp.  82,  83,  89. 


68 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


OCCUPATIONS  OF  NEGROES-NEW  YORK 
CITY,  19  i0 


Engineers,  firemen  (not  locomotive) 

Masons  (brick  and  stone) 

Painters,  glaziers  and  varnishers 

Plasterers  

Blacksmiths 

Butchers 

Carpenters  and  joiners 
Iron  and  steel  workers 

Paper-hangers 

Photographers 

Plumbers,  gas  and  steam  fitters 
Printers,  lithographers  and  pressmen 

Tailors       

Tobacco  and  cigar  factory  operatives 

Fishermen  and  oyster-men 

Miners  and  quarry-men 

Machinists 


Number  oj 
Negroes  to 
each  1,000 
workers  in 
each  occupa- 
tion 


Ovington,  M.  W.:     Half  a  Man.     P.  90. 

Negro  Wage=earners,  10  Years  of  Age  and  Over,  Engaged   in  Selected  Occupations 
York  City,  1890  and  1900 


New 


OCCUPATIONS 

1890 

1900 

11 

28 

9 

20 

99 

10 

11 

33 

146 

20 

11 

61 

7 

455 

70 
29 
94 

177 
51 
31 
94 

189 
69 
18 

227 
47 

150.0 

Blacksmiths 

222.2 
370.0 

Painters,  glaziers,  varnishers 

Plasterers     

Plumbers,  gas  and  steam  fitters 

Carpenters  and  joiners 

Tobacco  and  cigar  factory  operatives    .... 
Tailors 

78.8 
410.0 
181.8 
184.8 

29.4 
245.0 

Upholsterers 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary) 

Machinists 

63.3 

272.1 
571.4 

Total 

1,096 

140.8 

Haynes,  G.  E.:    The  Negro  at  Work  in  New  York  City.     P.  71. 
Occupations  of  Negro  Wage=earners,  15  Years  of  Age  and  Over— Manhattan,  1905 


Pursuits 

No. 

Pursuits 

No. 

Male- 

6 

.      5 

.    18 

.      S 

5 

8 

.    48 

.    19 

6 

9 

2 

32 

8 

.     12 

9 

2 

Male- 
Masons  (brick) 

.    .      8 

5 

Carpenters  

Painters  and  decorators 

.    .    26 

.    .      7 

Plumbers  (steam  and  gas  fitters)  .  . 

Printers  and  compositors 

Shoe  makers  and  repairers 

Tailors 

.    .      6 

.    .    14 

Engineers  (stationary)  .    .    . 
Firemen  (stationary)  .   .    .    . 
Factory  employees  (not  spec 

Red) 

.    .      6 

.    .    20 

.    .      22 

Female— 
Dressmakers      

Garment  workers 

Milliners       

Seamstresses      

.    .  164 

Cigar  makers 

.     ,      IS 

5 

Machinists 

Mechanics  (automobile,  bicy 

sie, 

etc.)  . 

.    .    16 
3 

6 

Haynes:     lbnl.      Pp.  74-76. 


New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  69 

General  Conditions 

New  Rochelle. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — a  few  car- 
penters. The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because  the  number 
has  increased  within  the  last  four  years.  The  young  men  are  not  enter- 
ing the  trades.     The  artisans  are  succeeding  fairly  well. 

Orange. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — a  few  masons  and 
carpenters.  The  Negroes  have  nothing  to  gain  or  lose  because  the  labor 
unions  won't  admit  them  and  the  few  who  are  acting  independently  are 
either  incompetent  or  unreliable  or  both.  Apparently  there  are  no  Ne- 
groes of  industrial  school  training  here;  a  few  industrious  or  "industrially" 
trained  would  undoubtedly  be  of  service.  The  young  men  are  not 
entering  the  trades.  The  artisans  who  are  willing  to  work  are  kept 
busy. 

Schenectady. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here  — a  few  car- 
penters and  masons.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer.  The 
young  men  are  not  entering  the  trades.  The  artisans  are  having  fair 
success. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Orange. — Painter  and  Decorator.  We  have  tried  hard  to  get  into 
the  painters'  union  but  have  been  held  out  on  account  of  color.  However, 
I  use  union  men.  As  a  rule  the  white  workers  do  not  like  to  see  Negroes 
on  the  job,  but  no  better  for  them.  If  you  can  do  the  work  you  will  get 
it  to  do. 

Orange. — Carpenter.  I  could  join  with  the  whites  in  the  union  if  I 
wished  to  do  so.  I  have  no  need  to  as  I  am  kept  busy,  being  my  own 
boss.  If  a  workman  is  capable  he  can  work  anywhere.  I  take  contract 
for  all  manner  of  mechanical  work  and  furnish  men  for  any  and  all  lines 
as  well  as  all  materials,  such  as  painting,  brick-laying,  plastering,  slating, 
excavating  and  macadamizing. 

Orange. — House  Painter.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  union.  Probably  I 
could  join.  Out  of  the  union,  I  have  a  better  chance  to  work  colored  men 
on  my  jobs  and  a  better  chance  to  get  jobs.  The  white  man  in  my  trade 
seems  to  be  satisfied  so  long  as  the  colored  man  will  content  himself  in 
doing  those  little  jobs  down  the  alleys.  Only  in  part  are  the  conditions 
growing  better.  It  is  seldom  the  Negro  worker  gets  a  chance  to  show 
his  ability  to  do  things  as  well  or  better  than  the  white  man.  I  find  more 
prejudice  existing  among  the  white  tradesmen  toward  the  colored  trades- 
men than  from  any  other  source.  It  remains,  however,  for  the  majority 
of  our  mechanics  to  gain  the  confidence  of  the  employer  thru  honesty  and 
punctuality,  being  always  true  to  the  trust  however  large  or  small  it  may 
be  as  were  our  fathers. 


70 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


Section  22.     North  Carolina 

The  state  of  North  Carolina  had  a  Negro  population  of 
624,469  in  1900  and  of  697,843  in  1910.  The  twelfth  census 
recorded  the  following  skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negro  workers 
for  the  state: 

North  Carolina 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  2 

Barbers 707 

Steam  railway  employees 3,268 

Brick  and  tile  makers 825 

Blacksmiths  and  w h eel w rights  ....  719 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 330 

Butchers 165 

Carpenters  and  joiners 1,500 

Cabinet  makers 13 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives     157 

Iron  and  steel  workers 90 

Machinists       52 


Male- 
Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons.  1,112 


Millers 

Painters 

Plasterers 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 

Printers 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  . 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  .    .    . 

Milliners 

Tailoresses 


81 

382 

169 

48 

39 

9  3 


753 
2 


General  Conditions 

Chapel  Hill. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — masons  and  car- 
penters. The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because  he  seems  to 
have  a  love  for  the  trades.  The  results  of  industrial  school  training  are 
good.  Many  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  artisans  are  suc- 
ceeding in  that  they  have  all  they  can  do. 

Kings  Mountain. — Few  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — carpenters, 
masons,  engineers  and  blacksmiths.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled 
laborer  because  he  is  in  demand.  Industrial  school  training  is  causing 
more  and  better  work  to  be  done  by  our  race.  The  young  men  are  enter- 
ing the  trades.     The  artisans  are  having  good  success  here. 

Winton. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — a  few  masons, 
painters,  carpenters  and  farmers.  The  Negroes  are  gaining  in  farming 
but  losing  in  the  other  pursuits.  The  reason  for  this  is  not  known  unless 
it  is  that  farming  is  the  leading  industry  of  this  section.  No  industrial 
school  training  has  been  given  to  the  boys.  The  girls  are  doing  well  in 
cooking  and  sewing.  Only  a  few  young  men  are  entering  the  trades. 
The  Negro  artisans  make  a  comfortable  living. 


Section  23.     Ohio 

There  were  96, 901  Negroes  in  the  state  of  Ohio  in  1900  and 
111,443  in  1910.  According  to  the  twelfth  census  the  state 
had  in  1900  the  following  skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negro 
workers: 


Ohio  71 


Ohio 

Male-                                                                            I  Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  5        Painters .  .  205 

Barbers 1,359  !      Plasterers 305 


Steam  railway  employees 202 

Brick  and  tile  makers  . 135 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ...  233 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 101 

Butchers 44 

Carpenters  and  joiners 242 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives  16 

Iron  and  steel  workers 699 

Machinists 55 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  692 

Millers 9 


Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 25 

Printers 37 

Steam  boiler  makers 7 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  .  369 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  ....  573 

Milliners 17 

Printers 2 

Tailoresses 23 


General  Conditions 

Gallipolis. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here.  They  are 
losing  because  work  of  all  sorts  is  scarce.  There  are  no  graduates  of 
industrial  schools  here.  The  young  men  are  entering  the  trades  very 
slowly.  Two  or  three  engineers  and  two  carpenters  have  establisht  excel- 
lent reputations  in  their  respective  trades. 

Ironton. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here— carpenters,  plas- 
terers and  brick  masons.  The  Negro  is  losing  as  a  skilled  laborer 
because  of  old  age,  death  and  the  failure  of  the  young  men  to  take  up  the 
trades.     The  Negro  artisans  are  having  very  little  success. 

Oberlin.  —  Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here— a  few  carpenters, 
painters,  shoe  makers  and  masons.  The  Negro  is  losing  as  a  skilled  la- 
borer because  it  requires  time,  energy,  money  and  encouragement  to 
acquire  skill.  Pleasure  and  amusement  are  more  sought  after.  The 
young  men  are  not  entering  the  trades.  The  Negro  artisans  are  having 
good  success. 

Portsmouth. — Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here  — stationary  engi- 
neers, blacksmiths,  horse-shoers,  automobilists,  plasterers  and  tinners. 
The  Negro  is  holding  his  own  as  a  skilled  laborer.  No  artisans  trained  in 
industrial  schools  here.  A  few  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The 
artisans  here  are  generally  employed. 

Springfield. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — carpenters,  iron 
molders,  blacksmiths,  brick  masons,  stone  masons  and  plasterers.  The 
Negro  as  a  skilled  laborer  is  decidedly  gaining  because  there  are  many 
more  than  formerly  and  in  different  trades.  A  few  years  ago  we  had  no 
iron  molders,  now  we  have  more  than  fifty  who  are  making  their  living 
at  this  trade  and  the  number  in  the  other  trades  has  increased.  There 
are  some  from  training  schools  here  who  seem  to  be  prospering.  The 
young  men  are  entering  the  trades,  but  not  in  as  large  numbers  as  they 
should.  The  artisans  here  seem  to  be  making  a  living  from  their  trades. 
A  few  are  making  more  than  a  living.  There  is  a  colored  contracting 
carpenter  who  takes  rank  second  to  none  in  his  trade.  He  builds  the  best 
houses  in  the  city. 


72  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Ironton. — Plasterer.  There  exists  a  jealous  feeling  on  the  part  of 
the  white  workers  toward  the  colored.  We  have  to  bid  a  little  cheaper 
or  be  very  superior  in  workmanship  to  the  whites.  Conditions  are  grow- 
ing worse  because  of  prejudice. 

Oberlin. — Carpenter.  The  union  would  be  open  to  Negroes.  An 
agreeable  feeling  exists  between  the  white  and  colored  workers  here. 
For  efficient  men  conditions  are  growing  better.  I  would  say  conditions 
in  Oberlin  are  all  one  could  expect. 

Portsmouth.— Plasterer.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  union  because  I  think 
them  detrimental  to  our  race.  The  feeling  between  white  and  colored 
workers  is  fairly  good  where  there  is  no  union.  I  think  conditions  are 
growing  better  for  the  Negro  skilled  worker.  Thru  negligence  the  con- 
dition of  the  Negro  here  is  not  what  it  could  be  but  there  are  some  who 
are  progressing  rapidly. 

Portsmouth. — Horse-shoer.  There  is  no  union  here  for  my  trade. 
I  could  join  if  there  were.  The  feeling  between  white  and  colored  workers 
is  good.  I  think  conditions  are  growing  better  because  capital  does  not- 
care  for  texture  of  hair  or  color  of  skin.  Good,  fast  work  is  wanted. 
The  better  and  faster  the  work,  the  more  money  for  the  employer.  I  am 
serving  time  as  apprentice  but  my  wages  are  good. 

Springfield. — Piano  Plate  Molder.  I  do  not  belong  to  the  union 
because  I  can  not  be  recognized  by  the  molders'  union  in  this  state  but  I 
can  in  Illinois.  There  is  an  ill  feeling  between  the  white  and  colored 
workers  in  my  trade.  I  can  work  only  in  open  shops.  Yet  conditions 
are  growing  better  because  the  Negro  is  grasping  every  opportunity  and 
the  manufacturers  are  giving  him  a  show  in  order  to  hold  down  strikes. 
I  have  been  working  at  the  trade  for  eleven  years.  I  have  been  making 
plates  for  parlor  grand  pianos  for  some  time. 

Springfield.— Molder.  I  cannot  join  the  molders'  union.  The  union- 
ization of  men  in  this  trade  was  to  oppose  the  Negro  as  well  as  to  protect 
the  trade  against  unskilled  labor.  At  the  present  time  it  is  purely  preju- 
dice that  operates  against  us.  In  many  localities  the  feeling  between  the 
white  and  colored  workers  is  bitter,  while  in  others  there  seems  to  be  the 
best  of  feeling.  Universally  there  is  much  bitterness.  I  think  conditions 
are  growing  better  for  the  Negro  skilled  worker  because:  (1)  He  is 
English  speaking.  (2)  He  is  obedient.  (3)  He  is  trusty.  (4)  He  will 
not  strike.  (5)  He  is  not  hard  to  satisfy.  ((5)  He  is  the  best  mechanic 
where  the  opportunity  is  allowed  him.  I  truly  advocate  schooling  not 
only  in  this  but  in  all  branches  of  trades,  especially  for  the  Negro.  It  is 
not  only  expected  of  you  to  know  more  and  to  do  better  work  than  the 
white  man.  It  is  required  of  you.  So  to  go  into  the  trade  world  equipt 
you  will  be  able  to  confront  and  battle  down  every  opposition. 


Oklahoma  73 

Section  24.     Oklahoma1 

There  were  55, 684  Negroes  in  Oklahoma  in  1900  and  137, 612 
in  1910.  The  census  of  1900  recorded  the  following  skilled 
or  semi-skilled  Negro  workers: 


Oklahoma 


Male — 

Barbers  131 

Steam  railway  employees 341 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights 56 

Brick  and  tile  makers 10 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 17 

Butchers 18 

Carpenters  and  joiners 61 

Machinists 3 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .   .    54 


Male- 
Millers    1 

Painters 9 

Plasterers 13 

Printers 9 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  ...  22 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses      ....  50 
Milliners 2 


General  Conditions 

Clarksville. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — a  few  are 
carpenters.  They  are  gaining  because  they  have  increased  in  number 
and  efficiency.  Industrial  school  training  opens  more  and  better  oppor- 
tunities for  labor.  The  young  men  are  not  entering  the  trades.  The 
artisans  are  meeting  with  medium  success. 

Guthrie. — Few  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— carpenters  and  black- 
smiths. They  are  gaining  because  they  are  able  to  compete  with  the 
white  laborers.  Industrial  school  training  causes  better  homes  and  more 
pride.  Not  many  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  Prejudice  and  la- 
bor unions  hinder  the  success  of  the  Negro  artisans. 

Hennessey. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— painters,  car- 
penters, paper-hangers,  plasterers  and  automobile  repairers.  They  are 
gaining  because  of  their  superior  skill.  Industrial  school  training  gives 
the  Negro  the  necessary  technical  knowledge  of  his  trade.  Few  young 
men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  artisans  are  succeeding  fairly  well 
here. 

Okmulgee.  -Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — plumbers,  painters, 
blacksmiths,  carpenters,  engineers  and  tailors.  The  Negro  is  holding  his 
own  as  a  skilled  laborer.  This  being  a  new  place  most  of  those  in  the 
trades  gained  knowledge  of  them  elsewhere.  As  results  of  industrial 
school  training  the  younger  men  give  evidence  of  more  intelligence  in 
their  work.  Not  many  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  artisans 
are  succeeding  well. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Guthrie. — Carpenter.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  union  because  I  cannot 
join  with  the  whites  and  the  Negro  workmen  are  so  divided  they  will  not 
come  together  and  form  a  union  among  themselves.  The  feeling  between 
the  white  and  colored  workers  in  my  trade  is  not  good.     When  a  Negro 

'Including  statistics  for  Indian  Territory. 


74 


The   Negro  American   Artisan 


is  classed  as  a  good  workman  the  white  workmen  at  once  plan  to  get  him 
out  of  town.  Conditions  for  the  Negro  skilled  worker  are  growing  better 
because  there  are  enough  of  them  getting  together  to  support  each  other 
which  is  enabling  them  to  take  contracts  of  much  value.  The  greatest 
pull  back  to  the  Negro  is  the  lack  of  preparation. 

Hennessey. — Brick  and  Cement  Contractor.  I  am  barred  from  the 
union  on  account  of  color.  A  bad  feeling  exists  between  the  white  and 
colored  workers.  Extreme  prejudice  seeks  to  exclude  us  from  employ- 
ment. 


Section  25.  Oregon  and  the  Northwest  (Idaho,  Montana,  Ne= 
braska,  North  Dakota,  Oregon,  South  Dakota,  Washing= 
ton,  Wyoming) 

The  Negro  population  of  these  states  in  1900  and  1910  was 
as  follows: 


States 


Idaho 

Montana  .  .  . 
Nebraska  .  .  . 
North  Dakota. 
Oregon  .  .  .  . 
South  Dakota 
Washing-ton  .  . 
Wyoming  .    .    . 


Total 


1900 

1910 

293 

646 

1,523 

1,834 

6,269 

7,689 

286 

617 

1,105 

1,519 

465 

817 

2,514 

6,058 

940 

2,235 

13,395 


21,415 


According  to  the  census  of  1900  these  states  had  the  fol- 
lowing skilled  or  semi-skilled  Negro  laborers: 

Idaho,  Montana,  Nebraska,  North  Dakota,  Oregon,  South  Dakota,  Washington,  Wyoming 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)   ....  1 

Barbers 310 

Steam  railway  employees 72 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights 19 

Brick  and  tile  makers 9 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 7 

Butchers 24 

Carpenters  and  joiners 24 

Iron  and  steel  workers 10 

Machinists 5 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  .  59 

Millers 1 


Male- 
Painters  21 

Plasterers 47 

P lumbers  and  gas  fitters 5 

Printers 12 

Steam  boiler  makers 2 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  44 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses 87 

Milliners 8 

Tailoresses   .    .       ". 1 


Section  26.     South  Carolina 

The  state  of  South  Carolina  had  a  Negro  population  of 
782,321  in  1900  and  of  835,843  in  1910.  According  to  the  cen- 
sus of  1900  there  were  the  following  skilled  and  semi-skilled 
Negro  workers  in  the  state: 


South  Carolina  75 

South  Carolina 

Male —                                                                            I  Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...          5        Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  1,069 
Barbers 537  ,      Millers 87 


Steam  railway  employees 2,930 

Brick  and  tile  makers 567 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....      803 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 340 

Butchers 267 

Carpenters  and  joiners 2,695 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives    346 

Iron  and  steel  workers 40 

Machinists 54 


Painters 693 

Plasterers 125 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 47 

Printers 54 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  .  657 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  .       .    .  1,992 
Milliners 3 


General  Conditions 

Aiken. —Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— carpenters,  masons, 
painters  and  smiths.  They  are  gaining.  Industrial  school  training  causes 
them  to  secure  homes  and  property;  to  educate  the  young  and  surround 
themselves  with  more  of  the  comforts  and  in  some  instances  the  luxuries 
of  life.  The  young  men  are  not  entering  the  trades  as  they  should.  The 
artisans  are  succeeding  well. 

Beaufort. —Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — brick-layers, 
blacksmiths,  carpenters,  engineers,  painters,  plumbers,  shoemakers,  tai- 
lors, tinners  and  wheelwrights.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer 
because  he  does  four-fifths  of  all  the  work  in  his  line.  He  has  proven  his 
efficiency  and  hence  gets  the  work.  Those  who  have  had  training  in  in- 
dustrial schools  are  in  greater  demand  than  the  others  Many  young  men 
are  entering  trades  in  industrial  schools.  The  artisans  are  succeeding 
well  here. 

Florence. —Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here  — blacksmiths,  carpen- 
ters, masons,  painters,  tinners  and  firemen.  The  Negro  is  holding  his 
own  as  a  skilled  laborer  because  he  is  in  demand  for  the  work.  Industrial 
school  training  has  caused  some  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the  work 
done  by  men  with  technical  knowledge  of  the  subject.  The  young  men 
are  not  entering  the  trades  as  fast  as  the  times  demand.  The  Negro 
artisans  are  having  very  good  success. 

Liberty  Hill. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here  — carpenters, 
painters,  engineers,  masons  and  blacksmiths.  The  majority  are  farmers. 
The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  and  is  receiving  higher  wages. 
Industrial  school  training  causes  more  skilled  laborers.  The  young  men 
are  entering  the  trades.  The  Negro  artisans  are  having  considerable 
success  because  they  have  no  white  competition. 

McCormick.  — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here— farming  and 
carpentry  are  their  chief  trades.  They  are  gaining  because  they  are 
awakening  to  the  fact  that  skill  and  competency  are  required  in  order  to 
survive.  Where  the  Negro  goes  with  industrial  training  he  is  preferred 
and  appreciated.  The  physical  poise  and  carriage  are  conspicuous.  The 
young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  Negro  artisans  are  having  good 
success.     They  work  with  the  white  artisans  with  great  acceptability. 


76  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Newberry. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here— carpenters, 
blacksmiths,  bricklayers  and  painters.  The  Negro  is  losing  as  a  skilled 
laborer  because  the  other  races  are  taking  to  the  trades.  Very  little  re- 
sults of  industrial  training  are  evident.  The  young  men  are  not  entering 
the  trades.     The  artisans  are  having  fair  success  here. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Aiken. — Blacksmith.  The  conditions  are  growing  better  for  the  Ne- 
gro skilled  workers  here  because  they  are  doing  the  best  and  practically 
all  of  the  work  around  here. 

Beaufort. — Tinsmith  and  Plumber.  Conditions  are  growing  better 
as  the  Negro  workers  prove  themselves  efficient  and  responsible.  I  find 
that  the  trained  or  skilled  workman  is  always  in  demand. 

Charleston. — Horse-shoer  and  Farrier.  There  is  a  good  feeling 
existing  between  the  white  and  colored  workers.  Conditions  are  growing 
better  for  the  Negro  skilled  laborers  because  all  avenues  are  open  to 
them.  The  Negro  is  the  controlling  workman  in  Charleston  along  all  trades. 

Section  27.     Tennessee 

The  state  of  Tennessee  had  a  Negro  population  of  480,243 
in  1900  and  of  473,088  in  1910.  According  to  the  census  of 
1900  there  were  the  following  skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negro 
workers  in  the  state: 


Tennessee 


Male— 

Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  5 

Barbers 993 

Steam  railway  employees 5,542 

Brick  and  tile  makers 532 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....  980 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 315 

Butchers 160 

Carpenters  and  joiners 1,308 

Cabinet  makers 30 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives      31 

Iron  and  steel  workers 1,242 

Machinists 87 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .  1,387 


Male- 
Millers    100 

Painters 340 

Plasterers 235 

Plumbers  and  g-as  fitters 137 

Printers 45 

Steam  boiler  makers •     94 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)    .  709 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses      ...  1,377 

Milliners 7 

Tailoresses 6 


General  Conditions 

Johnson  City. — Not  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here.  There  are 
a  few  brick  masons.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because 
those  desiring  skilled  labor  would  rather  have  a  Negro,  all  things  being 
equal.  The  results  of  industrial  school  training  are  very  evident  in  all 
departments  of  service.  The  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The 
Negro  artisans  are  succeeding.  They  have  all  they  can  do.  Some  of  the 
largest  and  best  houses  in  the  city  were  built  by  Negro  artisans. 

Memphis. —There  are  many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here — carpenters, 
brick  masons,  engineers,  blacksmiths,  printers  and  painters.     They  are 


Tennessee  77 

gaining  because  of  the  growing  demand  for  them  and  because  of  their 
efficiency.  Industrial  school  training  has  made  a  very  little  improvement 
over  the  old  artisan.  Not  many  young  men  of  this  district  are  entering 
the  trades.     Negro  artisans  are  having  much  success  here. 

Nashville. —Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — carpenters,  painters, 
blacksmiths,  machinists  and  florists.  They  are  gaining  because  they  are 
increasing  in  number  and  efficiency.  Industrial  school  training  has  made 
avast  improvement  over  the  old  self-made  artisan.  Many  young  men  are 
entering  the  trades.  The  artisans  in  this  district  are  having  much 
success. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Johnson  City. —Brick-mason.  I  do  not  now  belong  to  a  union  tho  I 
formerly  belonged  to  one.  We  failed  to  get  a  square  deal  from  our  white 
brother  workmen  and  after  fifteen  years  of  failure  along  this  line  I  with- 
drew from  the  union.  Conditions  here  are  not  so  good  for  the  feeling 
between  the  white  and  colored  workers  is  very  bad  and  growing  worse. 

Memphis.  —Brick-mason.  I  belong  to  the  Brick-layers,  Stone-masons 
and  Plasterers'  International  Union,  No.  1,  being  permitted  to  join  with 
the  whites.  In  my  trade  and  union  a  good  feeling  exists  between  the 
races.  Memphis,  according  to  my  observation,  is  the  best  city  in  the 
world  for  a  colored  mechanic.  Here  he  is  recognized  by  every  union  ex- 
cept the  plumbers'  union,  altho  there  are  at  least  seventy-five  or  eighty 
extra  good  colored  plumbers  here  doing  nicely. 

Memphis.  —  Contractor.  I  formerly  belonged  to  the  Carpenters' 
Union,  No.  152,  the  whites  and  blacks  having  separate  unions.  Condi- 
tions are  growing  better  for  the  Negro  skilled  workers  because  they  are 
delivering  the  same  goods  that  the  whites  are.  They  are  more  careful 
with  their  work  now  than  ever  before. 

Section  28.      Texas 

There  were  620,722  Negroes  in  Texas  in  1900  and  690,020 
in  1910.  According  to  the  twelfth  census  the  state  had  the 
following  skilled  or  semi-skilled  Negro  laborers: 


Texas 


Male- 
Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  .  .  4 

Barbers 1,068 

Steam  railway  employees 4,353 

Brick  and  tile  makers 279 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....      526 

Boot  and  shoe  makers 95 

Butchers 170 

Carpenters  and  joiners 764 

Cabinet  makers 9 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives       29 


Male- 
Millers    19 

Painters 164 

Plasterers 30 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 61 

Printers 44 

Steam  boiler  makers 30 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary  ) .  .  306 

Female — 

Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  ....  751 


Iron  and  steel  workers 107  |      Milliners 5 

Machinists 62        Printers.  . 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons  .      309  !      Tailoresses 


78  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

General  Conditions 

Beaumont. —Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  in  this  community  — 
chiefly  carpenters  and  blacksmiths.  As  a  skilled  laborer  the  Negro  is 
losing  because  of  the  numerous  labor  organizations  of  the  whites.  Indus- 
trial school  training  has  evident  results  here.  Young  men  are  entering 
the  trades  in  goodly  numbers.  The  artisans  here  are  having  much  suc- 
cess. 

Cameron.  — A  few  skilled  Negro  laborers  here.  The  Negro  is  losing 
as  a  skilled  laborer  because  he  cannot  meet  the  overwhelming  competition 
of  the  white  laborers.  Industrial  school  training  is  helping  the  situation 
greatly.  Young  men  are  entering  the  trades  steadily.  Negro  artisans  are 
succeeding  fairly  well. 

Corsicana.  — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — chiefly  carpen- 
ters and  plasterers.  The  Negro  is  losing  as  a  skilled  laborer  here  because 
they  are  few  in  number  and  the  work  mostly  has  to  be  done  by  white 
laborers.  Industrial  school  training  has  very  apparent  results  here. 
Young  men  are  entering  the  trades  slowly.  Negro  artisans  are  having 
medium  success. 

Dallas. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  in  this  community— mostly 
carpenters.  They  are  losing  because  the  white  laborers  are  more  effi- 
cient. No  results  of  industrial  school  training  can  be  seen  here.  The 
Negro  artisans  are  having  very  poor  success. 

Houston. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — carpenters,  harness 
makers,  plumbers  and  contractors.  They  are  gaining  because  of  the  in- 
creasing demand  for  their  services  and  their  high  efficiency.  The  majority 
of  these  skilled  laborers  have  had  industrial  school  training.  Many  young 
men  are  entering  the  trades.  Negro  artisans  of  this  community  are 
having  much  success,  being  employed  by  both  races. 

Navasota.  — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here -carpenters, 
blacksmiths,  engineers,  harness  makers,  painters  and  tailors.  Because 
of  the  increased  demand  the  Negro  as  a  skilled  laborer  is  gaining.  Indus- 
trial school  training  has  many  good  results — increased  efficiency,  more 
self-respect  and  higher  aspirations.  Young  men  are  steadily  entering  the 
trades.     Negro  artisans  are  prosperous. 

San  Antonio. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — carpenters,  paint- 
ers, plumbers  and  masons.  The  skilled  Negro  laborer  is  gaining  because 
of  higher  proficiency,  the  greater  need  for  his  services  and  the  general 
building  up  of  this  section.  The  results  of  industrial  school  training  are 
excellent.  Many  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  Negro  artisan 
here  is  succeeding  fairly  well. 

Waco. — Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  here  — carpenters,  blacksmiths, 
brick-masons,  tailors  and  butchers.  The  skilled  Negro  laborer  is  holding 
his  own  here.     The  results  of  industrial  school  training  are  very  poor..    A 


Texas  79 

fair  number  of  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.     Negro  artisans  are 
having  medium  success. 

Waxahachie.  —  Many  Negro  skilled  laborers  in  this  district— carpen- 
ters, plasterers  and  blacksmiths.  Negro  skilled  laborers  are  gaining 
because  of  the  great  increase  in  their  number.  Industrial  school  training- 
has  made  a  great  improvement  on  the  old  self-made  artisan.  A  fair 
number  of  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  Negro  artisans  are  having 
fair  success. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Beaumont. — Carpenter.  I  believe  conditions  are  growing  better  for 
the  Negro  skilled  worker.  Several  real  estate  companies  here  have  all 
their  building  done  by  colored  workmen.  The  employers  say  that  the 
Negro  is  honest  in  his  work  and  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  stand  over  him 
to  make  him  work. 

Dallas.— Paper-hanger  and  Decorator.  There  is  a  great  demand 
for  Negro  skilled  labor  because  in  Dallas  there  is  a  great  deal  of  local 
work  such  as  repair  work.  If  you  can  do  the  work  your  color  doesn't 
matter.  This  applies  to  all  trades.  I  have  been  contracting  here  for 
twelve  years  and  today  I  have  the  largest  resident  trade  of  any  workman, 
white  or  black,  in  Dallas.  In  the  spring  and  fall  I  can't  secure  help 
enough  to  keep  up  with  my  work.  I  could  work  a  dozen  men  six  months 
in  the  year. 

Houston.  —Contractor  and  Builder.  Negroes  have  no  union  here  and 
the  whites  do  not  allow  Negroes  to  join  their  unions.  A  good  feeling  ex- 
ists between  the  white  and  colored  workers.  There  is  no  trouble  at  all. 
I  employ  white  and  Negro  laborers  and  they  work  together  peacefully. 
Conditions  are  growing  better  for  the  Negro  skilled  laborer  because  he  is 
proving  that  he  is  able  to  do  the  work  and  is  doing  his  work  the  very  best. 


Section  29.      Virginia 

The  state  of  Virginia  had  660,722  Negroes  in  1900  and 
671,096  in  1910.  The  census  of  1900  recorded  the  following 
skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negro  workers  for  the  state: 


Virginia 


Male — 

Engineers  (civil  and  mechanical)  ...  10 

Barbers 1,094 

Steam  railway  employees 5.418 

Brick  and  tile  makers 863 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....  1,222 

Boot  and  shoe  makers    . 623 

Butchers 239 

Carpenters  and  joiners 1,619 

Cabinet  makers 239 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives      69 

Iron  and  steel  workers 1,173 

Machinists 86 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons .  .  967 


Male- 
Millers 112 

Painters 250 


Plasterers 

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters  ...... 

Printers 

Steam  boiler  makers 

Engineers  and  firemen  (  stationary  ) 

Female — 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  .  .    . 

Milliners 

Printers 

Tailoresses 


508 
96 
55 
12 

797 


1,445 
2 
6 


80  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

General  Conditions 

Bristol. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — carpenters,  brick- 
masons  and  blacksmiths.  They  are  losing  as  skilled  laborers,  being 
barred  out  of  the  trades  unions.  The  results  of  industrial  school  training 
are  fairly  good.  Young  men  are  entering  the  trades  very  slowly.  Negro 
artisans  here  are  succeeding  fairly  well. 

Charlotte. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — chiefly  carpen- 
ters and  blacksmiths.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled  laborer  because 
he  competes  favorably  with  the  white  artisans.  Many  good  results  of 
industrial  school  training  are  evident.  Young  men  are  entering  the  trades 
in  increased  numbers.     Negro  artisans  are  having  much  success. 

Farmville. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — chiefly  carpenters 
and  masons.  They  are  gaining  because  of  the  great  demand  for  their 
efficient  service.  Industrial  school  training  has  made  very  poor  results 
here.  Many  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  Negro  artisans  here 
are  having  excellent  success. 

Petersburg. — A  fair  number  of  skilled  Negro  laborers  here  — chiefly 
painters,  carpenters  and  blacksmiths.  There  is  very  little  to  indicate 
that  we  are  near  a  great  industrial  school,  tho  we  are.  Young  men  are 
not  entering  the  trades.  The  Negro  artisans  here  are  kept  busy.  I  re- 
cently noticed  on  a  large  building  being  erected  that  all  of  the  plasterers 
working  on  it  were  Negroes. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Charlotte.  —Blacksmith.  I  have  never  cared  to  consider  the  unions 
for  I  own  and  operate  my  own  shop  and  have  all  the  work  I  can  do.  There 
is  no  color  line  here  for  first-class  workers.  The  Negro  youth  seems  to 
be  leaving  the  trades  to  the  white  people.  Proficient  workers  are  in  de- 
mand. My  advice  to  the  young  men  of  my  race  would  be  to  learn  to  be 
masters  of  the  trades  and  then  stick  to  them. 

Farmville. — Blacksmith.  There  is  a  very  good  feeling  providing 
one  knows  and  does  well  what  he  is  doing  in  the  trades.  I  think  conditions 
are  growing  better  for  the  Negro  skilled  workers  because  in  most  cases 
they  can  do  just  as  good  work  as  any  and  their  expense  is  not  so  great, 
therefore  they  are  engaged. 

Farmville.— Painter  and  Decorator.  There  is  a  reasonably  fair 
feeling  with  the  best  white  workmen.  I  think  conditions  are  growing 
better  because  the  Negro  workman  who  is  thoroly  prepared  seems  to  give 
better  satisfaction  in  this  community. 

Petersburg. — Practical  Horse-shoer.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  union 
because  I  think  it  does  not  profit  a  black  workman  to  belong.  It  would 
be  ixttcr  for  him,  I  believe,  if  no  union  had  ever  existed.  The  Negro 
skilled  laborers   are   meeting   improving  conditions  because  so  many  of 


West  Virginia 


8 


them  are  learning  under  skilled  workmen  and  hence  doing  good  work.  I 
know  my  business  from  start  to  finish  and  can  make  any  patent  of  shoes 
from  my  anvil  that  is  on  the  market. 


Section  30.     W^st  Virginia 

The  state  of  West  Virginia  had  a  Negro  population  of 
43,499  in  1900  and  of  64,173  in  1910.  The  twelfth  census 
recorded  the  following  skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negro  workers 
for  the  state: 

West  Virginia 


Male- 

Male- 

4 

Steam  railway  employees 1,555 

Brick  and  tile  makers 12 

Blacksmiths  and  wheelwrights  ....        83 

Painters    

Plasterers  

Plumbers  and  gas  fitters 

19 

30 

5 

6 

Butchers                                                               10 

Steam  boiler  makers 

Engineers  and  firemen  (stationary)  .  . 

Female- 
Dressmakers  and  seamstresses  .... 

Milliners 

Printers 

1 

Carpenters  and  joiners 76 

Cabinet  makers 1 

Cotton  and  other  textile  mill  operatives        1 
Iron  and  steel  workers 11 

92 

76 
2 

Marble  and  stone  cutters  and  masons .      101 

1 

General  Conditions 

Bluefield.  — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — a  few  carpenters. 
The  Negro  is  losing  as  a  skilled  laborer  because  he  is  not  allowed  to  enter 
the  trades  unions.  Industrial  school  training  has  made  no  improvement 
here.  Young  men  are  entering  the  trades  very  slowly.  The  Negro  arti- 
san is  having  very  poor  success. 

Charleston. — Many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — chiefly  carpenters, 
brick  masons  and  paper-hangers.  As  a  skilled  laborer  the  Negro  is 
gaining  because  of  the  increase  in  number  and  efficiency.  Industrial 
school  training  has  added  to  the  efficiency  of  the  Negro.  A  fair  number 
of  young  men  are  entering  the  trades.  The  success  of  Negro  artisans 
here  is  fairly  good. 

Hill  Top. — Not  many  skilled  Negro  laborers  here — chiefly  carpenters, 
brick  masons,  painters  and  printers.  The  Negro  is  gaining  as  a  skilled 
laborer  because  of  the  increased  opportunities  in  the  trades.  Industrial 
school  training  has  produced  some  very  apparent  results.  Young  men 
are  entering  the  trades  in  large  numbers.  Negro  artisans  are  having 
moderate  success. 

Replies  of  Artisans 

Charleston. — Machinist  and  Lineman.  Conditions  are  not  so  good 
as  they  should  be  because  the  whites  are  banded  together  in  a  union 
which  strictly  bars  Negroes.  The  trade  which  1  have  mastered  best  is 
that  of  lineman  and  telephone  work  in  general  but  owing  to  such  a  great 


82  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

opposition  in  this  section  by  the  linemen's  union  to  Negro  labor  I  have 
been  completely  barred  from  the  telephone  work  after  having  served  nine 
years  in  that  capacity.  My  experience  in  this  matter  is  the  experience  of 
others  of  my  race. 

Charleston. — Painter  and  Decorator.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  union 
because  of  the  race  prejudice  as  displayed  by  whites  and  because  I  feel 
that  trade  unions  as  now  conducted  are  detrimental  to  Negro  workmen. 
Conditions  are  growing  better  for  the  Negro  skilled  workers  because 
locally  the  field  is  ample  for  more  workers  and  the  Negro  is  preferable 
when  he  can  meet  the  demands.  The  young  men  of  our  race  must  not 
grow  discouraged  in  the  trades  because  they  do  not  meet  with  immediate 
success  but  must  learn  to  "stick  to  their  bush"  for  results. 

Institute. —Carpenter.  I  have  never  tried  to  join  the  unions  for  I 
have  always  received  the  wages  for  which  I  asked.  Negro  skilled  workers 
are  meeting  better  conditions.  What  the  Negro  needs  now  is  higher 
practical  training  so  as  to  be  able  to  measure  arms  with  any  one. 


Section  31.      The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor 

The  Negro  workman  has  had  to  encounter  racial  prejudice 
on  the  part  of  his  white  fellow  workmen  from  early  colonial 
days  until  the  present  time.1  In  the  present  study  an  attempt 
has  been  made  to  ascertain: 

(1)  The  attitude  of  Negro  workmen  toward  labor  organi- 

zations. 

(2)  The  attitude   of   labor  organizations   toward   Negro 

laborers. 

The  results  of  the  former  have  appeared  in  the  replies  of 
Negro  artisans  printed  in  sections  6-30.-  The  results  of  the 
latter  are  collected  in  this  section  (Section  31.) 

Some  unions  admit  Negroes  in  considerable  numbers  as 
the  following  selected  reports  show: 

The  Tunnel  and  Sub-way  Constructors'  International  Un- 
ion, New  York  City,  reports  about  two  hundred  Negro  mem- 
bers. "In  our  trade  they  are  as  good  as  there  is  in  the  busi- 
ness. " 

The  Tobacco  Workers  report  four  or  five  hundred  Negro 
members,  but  this  is  a  decrease  from  the  one  thousand  five 


'See  Atlanta  University  Publications,  No.  7,  pp.  15:5-157.     Also  pages  28-37  of  this  study. 
'See  pages  48-82. 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  83 

hundred  which  they  had  in  1900.  They  report  that  the  Negro 
workmen  "do  fairly  well." 

The  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  report  that  there  are 
twenty-five  thousand  colored  members  and  that  eighty  per 
cent  of  the  largest  local  union  in  the  organization,  with  one 
thousand,  five  hundred  and  eight  members  are  Negroes. 
The  secretary-treasurer  reports  that  the  Negro  workers  are 
"intelligent,  honorable,  progressive  and  good  workmen.' ' 
The  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  place  a  fine  on  any 
local  which  discriminates  on  account  of  color. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Freight  Handlers  has  fifty 
Negro  members. 

The  Hod  Carriers'  and  Building  Laborers'  Union  reports 
"about  a  thousand  members,"  but  gives  no  further  informa- 
tion. 

The  International  Union  of  Pavers,  Rammermen,  Flaggers, 
Bridge  and  Stone  Curb  Setters  reports  one  hundred  and  fifty 
Negro  members  as  against  four  hundred  in  1900. 

The  Brick-layers,  Masons  and  Plasterers'  Union  reports 
several  hundred  Negro  members.  The  Negroes  make  "aver- 
age and  fair"  laborers.  "Our  constitution  provides  that  any 
discrimination  against  a  man  on  account  of  color  subjects  the 
offending  union  to  a  one-hundred  dollar  fine.  The  chief  and 
only  objection  to  colored  men  was  on  account  of  color.  This 
objection  is  likely  to  be  overcome  in  time." 

There  are  other  unions  that  have  Negro  members.  In  some 
cases,  however,  the  whites  are  not  elated  over  the  Negro  mem- 
bership.   A  union  man  from  central  Indiana  writes  as  follows: 

I  take  more  than  a  mere  passing  interest  in  the  Negro  race,  more 
especially  those  of  them  who  are  wage-earners.  No  true  trade  unionist 
will  object  to  the  Negro  belonging  to  a  labor  union.  I  mean  by  a  true 
trade  unionist  one  who  understands  the  economic  or  industrial  question. 
All  the  men  whom  I  have  heard  object  to  the  Negro  joining  a  labor  union 
or  refusing  to  work  with  a  Negro,  were  in  all  cases  men  who  did  not 
understand  or  comprehend  the  first  principles  of  the  so-called  "labor 
question."  In  my  own  craft  (cigar  making)  as  far  back  as  1867  we  ex- 
punged the  word  "white"  from  our  International  Constitution.  There 
are  many  Negroes  who  are  members  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  International 
Union  and  we  who  believe  in  the  uplift  of  humanity  are  pleased  to  have 


84  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

them  with  us.  For  a  number  of  years  a  Negro,  William  Jones  by  name, 
was  international  treasurer  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union. 
His  home  was  in  Mobile,  Ala.,  but  of  course  he  was  elected  largely  by  the 
votes  of  northern  men.  This  objection  to  the  Negro  in  unions  is  not  only 
ridiculous  but  is  criminal  and  is  born  of  hatred,  jealousy  and  ignorance. 
The  Negro  wage-earner  is  a  competitor  with  his  white  brother  (or  sister) 
and  in  order  for  us  whites  to  maintain  our  standard  of  living  and  secure 
anything  approaching  humane  conditions  of  labor,  we  must  of  necessity 
organize  and  educate  the  Negro  wage-earner. 

This  clap- trap  about  race  superiority  is  silly.  If  the  white  man  is  so 
much  superior  to  the  Negro  in  a  given  calling  or  in  all  industrial  pursuits 
he  need  fear  nothing  from  his  Negro  competitor.  I  have  seen  specimens 
of  mechanism  and  other  tests  of  the  Negro's  ability  and  I  say  without 
fear  of  successful  contradiction  that  where  the  Negro  is  industrious  and 
temperate  in  his  habits  he  is  capable  of  advancing  and  becoming  proficient 
in  the  same  proportion  as  any  other  race.  I  find  again  that  in  those 
unions  where  Negroes  are  admitted  to  membership  and  are  given  and 
guaranteed  all  privileges  with  any  other  member,  that  they  make  loyal 
and  trustworthy  union  men.  One  of  the  staunchest  unions  we  have  in 
Indiana  is  the  Negro  Building  Laborers'  Union  of  Indianapolis.  Among 
the  miners  are  some  of  the  most  active  and  loyal  union  men  in  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America.  I  might  mention  among  these  Charles  Griffin 
and  John  Adams  of  Brazil,  Ind.,  and  James  Bishop  of  Clinton,  who  was 
treasurer  of  his  local  union  for  a  number  of  years  and  who  turned  over 
every  penny  to  his  successor  in  office  when  he  retired  from  the  position: 
more  than  could  be  said  of  several  of  his  white  predecessors. 

In  this  city  we  have  not  a  great  many  Negroes  but  we  have  lots  of 
Negro  haters,  I  regret  to  say.  In  the  Trades  Assembly  that  has  nineteen 
affiliated  unions,  Brother  E.  L.  James  (Negro)  has  held  the  position  of 
statistician  of  the  organization  for  four  years.  In  the  barbers'  union 
here  the  whites  (not  all  of  them)  refuse  to  turn  out  on  Labor  Day  because 
of  the  presence  of  the  Negro,  but  I  am  pleased  to  state  that  their  course 
in  this  is  not  approved  of  by  the  unionists  in  the  other  unions  and  the 
active  white  members  of  the  barbers'  union  do  not  join  the  others  in  this 
matter.  As  I  said  in  the  beginning,  the  men  and  women  who  really 
understand  the  economic  question  do  not  hold  this  prejudice  against  the 
Negro  and  the  people  who  do  hold  this  prejudice  would  be  just  as  bitter 
against  the  Italian,  Polish  or  any  other  race  if  the  Negro  were  not  here. 
You  are  at  liberty  to  make  whatever  disposition  of  this  letter  you  may 
deem  proper. 

Wishing  God-speed  to  all  who  are  striving  for  the  uplift  of  humanity, 
I  am,  Yours  sincerely, 

A  few  Negro  members  are  scattered  here  and  there  in  a 
number  of  unions. 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  85 

The  Amalgamated  Society  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners'  sec- 
retary writes: 

Our  constitution  does  not  discriminate  against  Negro  membership, 
altho  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  so  far  as  the  United  States  is  con- 
cerned, they  are  a  very  rare  exception,  probably  owing  to  the  fact  that 
we  have  but  very  few  locals  establisht  in  the  South.  I  have  never  heard 
any  uncomplimentary  remarks  made  against  any  Negro  that  has  been 
admitted  into  our  organization,  either  as  a  trade  unionist  or  as  to  his 
ability  as  a  carpenter,  but  as  previously  stated  they  have  been  so  few  in 
number  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  attempt  to  give  you  any 
reliable  information  regarding  this  matter. 

The  secretary-treasurer  of  the  International  Typographical 
Union  is  a  little  non-committal  in  his  answers: 

Competent  persons  of  both  races  have  always  been  eligible  to  mem- 
bership in  our  organization.  This  office  does  not  keep  any  record  showing 
how  many  males,  females  or  Negroes  are  connected  with  the  organiza- 
tion. All  persons,  under  our  laws,  must  receive  the  same  wages,  pay  the 
same  dues  and  enjoy  the  same  benefits.  A  local  union  can  reject  any 
applicant  for  membership  if  it  so  desires.  The  rejected  applicant  has  the 
right  of  appeal  to  the  executive  council  and  that  body  has  authority  to 
order  his  admission  if  it  believes  he  has  been  dealt  with  unjustly  by  the 
local  union.  In  some  of  our  southern  unions  there  are  objections  to  the 
admission  of  Negroes.  This  is  a  natural  condition  which  time  will  proba- 
bly eliminate. 

The  Boot  and  Shoe  Makers'  Union  has  a  few  Negro  mem- 
bers. 

Some  unions  are  composed  of  city  or  state  employees.  In 
such  cases  few  colored  members  are  usually  admitted.  There 
are,  for  instance,  three  members  of  the  Firemen's  Association 
of  Chicago,  111.,  and  eight  members  of  the  City  Firemen's 
Protective  Association  in  Wilkinsburg,  Pa. 

Four  union  men  are  reported  in  Carlinville,  111. ;  six  union 
pavers  are  reported  in  Cleveland,  Ohio;  a  very  few  belong  to 
the  Western  Federation  of  Miners;  twelve  belong  to  the  Gran- 
ite Cutters;  twelve  belong  to  the  Newspaper  and  Mail  Dealers' 
Union,  New  York;  twelve  to  the  Building  Laborers  of  Port- 
land, Oregon;  twenty-five  to  the  Paving  Cutters'  Union. 

Quite  a  number  of  Negroes  belong  to  Wood,  Wire  and 
Metal  Lathers'  International  Union;  a  few  belong  to  the  Ger- 
man Tailors'  Union;  the  Metal  Polishers'  Union  has  one  col- 


86  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

ored  member;  the  Tobacco  Strippers'  Union  of  Tampa,  Fla., 
has  seventeen  colored  members;  the  Janitors'  Protective  Un- 
ion of  San  Francisco,  CaL,  has  three  colored  members;  the 
American  Brotherhood  of  Slate  Workers  has  fifty;  the  Inter- 
national Brick,  Tile  and  Terra  Cotta  Workers'  Alliance  has 
forty  or  fifty;  the  Quarry  Workers'  International  Union  has 
a  "small  number;"  the  International  Brotherhood  of  Foun- 
dry Employees  probably  has  a  few.  The  International  Broth- 
erhood of  Book  Binders  has  four. 

The  International  Ladies'  Garment  Workers'  Union  writes: 

There  are  few  if  any  Negroes  in  our  trade.  At  least  I  don't  know  of 
any  just  now.  I  knew  that  in  Philadelphia  two  years  ago  some  Negro 
women  were  taken  in  shirt  waist  factories  to  replace  strikers.  I  do  not 
know  if  they  are  still  there. 

A  typical  attitude  of  the  unions  with  a  few  Negro  members 
is  that  of  the  molders.  The  editor  of  the  International  Mold- 
ers' Journal  writes: 

The  International  Molders'  Union  of  North  America,  now  in  its  fifty- 
third  year  of  existence,  has  never  in  its  laws  discriminated  against  the 
Negro  molders.  As  membership  in  the  organization  depends  upon  the 
votes  of  the  members  in  the  local  union  where  application  for  membership 
is  made,  it  has  followed  that  very  few,  in  fact  an  inconsiderable  number, 
have  been  initiated  by  our  local  unions  in  the  South  where  the  Negro 
molders  are  to  be  found.  Here  and  there,  in  the  east,  north,  central 
west  and  Pacific  coast  Negroes  have  been  taken  into  membership  and 
placed  on  an  equality  with  the  other  members  so  far  as  the  union  was 
concerned. 

During  recent  years  a  large  number  of  Negroes  have  worked  at 
molding  in  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  and  many  efforts  have  been  made  to 
organize  them.  Some  eleven  years  ago  I  made  strenuous  efforts  to  organ- 
ize the  Negro  molders  of  Chattanooga  but  failed.  We  found  considerable 
prejudice  on  the  part  of  our  membership  and  a  suspicion  as  to  the  genu- 
ineness of  our  motives  by  the  Negro.     Within   the  last  year  we  have 

placed  a  southerner,  Mr.  —  ,  in  the  southern  field  and  he  gave 

special  attention  to  the  matter  of  organizing  the  Negroes  in  Chattanooga 
with  considerable  success  and  also  with  much  opposition  from  the  foun- 
dry men.  In  fact,  the  foundry  men  informed  the  Negroes  that  if  they 
joined  our  organization  they  would  no  longer  work  at  the  trade  in  Chatta- 
nooga. We  have  struck  several  foundries  to  protect  the  Negro  to  mem- 
bership in  our  organization  and  at  present  we  are  paying  strike  benefits 
to  a  number. 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  87 

Our  first  difficulty  which  we  had  to  overcome  in  connection  with  the 
Negro  molderwas  to  impress  upon  the  southern  molder  that  the  question 
was  one  of  economics,  it  was  a  question  of  industrial  equality  and  not  one 
of  social  equality,  and  that  our  organization  did  not  exist  for  any  purpose 
except  to  educate  the  workmen,  regardless  of  their  race  or  color,  to  act 
collectively  in  the  industrial  field  for  the  purpose  of  improving  their  term 
of  employment. 

Some  of  our  unions  in  the  South  who  a  few  years  ago  would  have  re- 
fused to  initiate  Negro  molders  have  since  that  time  not  only  done  so,  but 
placed  themselves  on  record  as  favoring  the  initiation  of  Negroes. 

It  is  interesting  to  consider  the  replies  made  by  the  labor 
organizations.  Many  answer  directly,  many  give  evasive 
answers,  others  say  that  the  question  of  Negro  members  has 
not  been  considered,  and  still  others  reply  simply  no  Negro 
members.  In  other  cases  it  is  reported  that  few  or  no  Negroes 
work  at  the  trade.     Illustrations  follow: 

Gardeners'  Protective  Union. — We  have  only  a  small  membership 
and  up  to  this  time  no  Negro  has  applied  for  admission  to  our  union. 
However,  in  my  experience  of  years  as  a  gardener,  I  have  never  heard 
of  a  good  Negro  gardener. 

Watch  Case  Engravers'  International  Association  of  America.— The 

Negroes,  in  my  opinion,  should  receive  as  much  consideration  and  as  good 
treatment  as  any  other  human.  They  have  dark  skin,  but  have  all  other 
faculties  the  same  as  the  best  white  man  that  ever  lived.  They  are  neg- 
lected in  education  due  to  the  fact  that  there  is  so  much  pride  and  vanity 
in  too  many  of  our  own  race  and  color. 

Gas  and  Water  Workers,  Oakland,  Cal.—  Our  business  comprises  the 
manufacture  and  distribution  of  gas,  and  in  the  event  of  a  Negro  being 
employed,  he  would  be  welcomed  to  membership  in  our  local. 

Wire  Drawers. — No  religion  or  color  deprives  any  body  from  belong- 
ing to  our  union  and  it  should  not  in  any  union. 

United  Cloth  Hat  and  Cap  Makers  of  North  America.-  During  the 
existence  of  our  organization  no  Negroes  have  ever  applied  for  admission 
to  our  union.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we  are  not  aware  of  any  Negroes  em- 
ployed in  the  cap  industry,  as  it  is  a  more  or  less  skillful  trade.  As  a 
matter  of  principle  we  do  not  draw  any  line  between  race  and  race;  we 
consider  all  races  alike  and  it  is  my  firm  belief  that  Negroes  can  make 
good  workers  and  good  union  members. 

International  Association  of  Steam,  Hot  Water  and  Power  Pipe 
Fitters  and  Helpers. —In  place  of  objections  it  is  necessary  that  they 
should  join  to  attain  the  results  desired. 


88  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

International   United    Brotherhood  of  Leather=\vorkers    in   Horse 

Goods.  — No  discrimination.  Every  local  union  is  competent  to  pass  upon 
the  applicants  for  membership,  can  reject  or  accept  for  reasons  satisfac- 
tory to  the  local. 

Stove  Mounters'  International  Union.— We  have  no  laws  concern- 
ing this  question. 

Flour  and  Cereal  Mill  Employees. — "Have  not  had  to  make  a  test. " 
They  state  the  objections  to  Negroes  "because  they  belong  to  a  class  of 
themselves"  and  do  not  see  how  these  objections  are  likely  to  be  overcome. 

The  Fur  Dressers'  Union  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  says  the  question  has 
not  yet  been  considered. 

The  International  Union  of  Elevator  Constructors  says:  Our  locals 
have  the  right  to  refuse  any  candidate,  let  him  be  black  or  white.  All 
candidates  are  balloted  on  and  are  questioned  as  to  their  qualifications. 

The  undecided  attitude  is  represented  in .  the  case  which 
follows: 

The  Machinists'  Helpers  and  Laborers'  Union  of  Washington,  Ind., 

says  that  Negroes  cannot  join  their  union  "at  present."  The  reply 
further  gives  an  interesting  history.  "We  have  not  had  any  Negroes  in 
this  shop  until  six  months  ago.  Some  of  them  are  good  workmen.  Like 
all  classes  of  people  there  are  bad  workmen.  As  for  the  objections,  we 
have  not  had  any  applications  yet,  and  the  people  here  have  not  been 
used  to  working  with  the  Negroes  and  the  northern  folks  are  stubborn 
about  going  into  any  union  with  the  Negro.  When  these  shops  were 
built  they  went  into  a  contract  not  to  hire  any  Negroes  or  foreign  men  for 
twenty  years  and  the  contract  was  lived  up  to  until  the  strike  here  two 
years  ago.  Since  the  strike  was  settled  they  have  been  hiring  some  Ne- 
groes, but  the  most  of  the  Negroes  that  are  living  here  are  well-to-do  and 
own  good  farms  and  they  do  not  bother  with  the  shops  much;  but  those 
that  are  woiking  in  the  shops  are  good,  well-to-do  folks  and  peaceful; 
but  as  far  as  organizing  there  has  not  been  anything  said  to  them  about 
going  in  and  they  do  not  knew  anything  about  the  federation.  There  are 
not  more  than  about  twenty  Negroes  working  in  the  shops." 

The  same  union  in  St.  Thomas,  Ontario,  has  no  Negro  members  but 
declares  "our  constitution  will  take  a  candidate  irrespective  of  creed, 
color  or  nationality." 

Other  difficulties  are  hinted  at: 

The  Journeymen  Tailors'  Union  of  America  says  that  Negroes  may 
join  their  union:  "Negro  tailors  are  principally  in  the  southern  states. 
We  have  some  members  in  Macon,  Augusta  and  a  few  other  towns  in  the 
Carolinaa  and  one  or  two  in  Chicago.  We  have  discovered  that  in  some 
instances  the  man  who  employs  a  few  colored  tailors  discriminates  against 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  89 

them  if  they  join  the  union,  hence  it  is  hard  to  interest  them  to  become 
members." 

The  separate  Negro  local  is  one  method  of  solution: 

The  International  Union  of  Steam  Engineers  has  one  colored  local 
in  Washington,  D.  C.  "Colored  men  whom  I  have  met  in  our  craft  have 
been  able  mechanics  and  good  trade  unionists." 

The  American  Brotherhood  of  Cement  Workers  has  this  provision 
in  its  constitution:  "In  localities  where  colored  men  are  working  at  ce- 
ment work  colored  locals  can  be  formed,  provided,  however,  such  mem- 
bership shall  be  granted  transfer  to  colored  locals  only." 

The  Wood ,  Wire  and  Metal  Lathers'  International  Union  says :  '  'With 
one  or  two  exceptions  we  have  found  the  colored  men  unable  to  maintain 
an  exclusive  colored  organization.  We  have  establisht  several  colored 
locals  in  the  South,  but  only  two  of  them  have  ever  made  a  success,  one 
in  Savannah  and  the  other  in  Charleston,  the  one  in  Savannah  having 
been  in  existence  since  our  international  was  formed.  I  attribute  much 
of  its  success  to  the  influence  of  one  strong  character  in  their  ranks,  W. 
E.  Searles,  who  has  been  secretary  for  a  number  of  years.  We  estab- 
lisht an  exclusive  colored  local  in  Philadelphia,  at  the  request  of  both 
the  white  and  colored  lathers  in  that  city;  but  it  was  an  absolute  failure.  " 

The  Building  Employees'  Union  of  New  York  has  no  Negro  members 
and  explains:  "In  1909  we  had  about  twelve  Negro  members  (janitors)  in 
our  union.  We  had  trouble  getting  or  rather  keeping  a  meeting  hall  on 
account  o'f  them  and  formed  them  in  a  branch  as  we  do  have  branches  of 
different  languages.  They  met  two  or  three  times  and  dropt  out.  We 
are  quite  willing  to  help  in  forming  a  branch  again." 

Outside  forces  sometimes  compel  separation  as  hinted  at 
here: 

There  are  no  Negro  members  connected  with  the  unions  in  Herrin, 
111.  The  secretary  writes:  "Being  a  miner  mysef  will  say  there  is  no 
objection  to  Negroes  in  the  miner's  organization  as  long  as  they  can 
find  towns  or  cities  where  there  is  no  objection  to  them  living.  Our  con- 
tract with  the  operators  provides  for  no  discrimination  on  account  of 
creed,  color  or  nationality.     So  does  our  constitution  provide  the  same." 

The  general  argument  is  often  put  in  this  way: 
The  Negro  is  employed  by  the  large  packing  industries  extensively 
for  in  many  cases  he  has  the  highest  paid  positions,  notably  in  Kansas 
City,  Kan.,  and  East  St.  Louis,  111.  He  is  equally  as  skillful  as  the  white 
man  and  in  many  cases  the  employer  prefers  him.  It  would  thus  be  the 
height  of  folly  for  our  organization  to  legislate  against  him.  As  to  the 
number  we  have  with  us  we  cannot  state  as  in  the  smaller  cities  they  are 
affiliated  directly  with  the  local  union  and  no  mention  is  made  of  color  in 


90  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

their  report  to  the  general  office.  Of  course  there  are  localities  in  the 
South  and  Southwest  where  local  prejudice  prevents  their  becoming  mem- 
bers of  the  local  union,  but  in  all  cases  they  can  form  locals  by  themselves 
and  be  chartered  by  the  international  organization. 

Personally  I  might  say  that  so  long  as  a  man  is  competent  tp  take 
my  situation  I  care  not  what  his  color  may  be— white,  black  or  yellow. 
I  want  him  to  become  a  member  of  the  organization  as  the  rules  and 
usages  make  it  possible  for  him  to  do.  In  our  organization  (the  Amalga- 
mated Meat  Cutters  and  Butcher  Workers  of  North  America)  the  Negro 
stands  on  the  same  plane  with  the  white  man.  Our  obligation  states 
emphatically  that  a  member  of  our  organization  agrees  not  to  discriminate 
against  a  fellow  worker  on  account  of  his  creed,  color  or  nationality. 

Many  unions  frankly  exclude  Negroes. 

Negroes  are  not  admitted  to  membership  in  the  Order  of  Railway 
Conductors  of  America.  Eligibility  to  membership  in  this  order  is  gov- 
erned by  the  laws  as  adopted  by  the  Grand  Division  of  said  order  and 
which  provides  that  "any  white  man  shall  be  eligible  to  membership  who 
is  at  the  time  of  making  application  actually  employed  as  conductor  of  a 
train  of  a  steam  surface  railway." 

The  Cutting,  Die  and  Cutter  Makers  answer,  "Nothing  doing  on  the 
Negro." 

The  Brotherhood  of  Railway  Car  Men  of  America  has  neverhad  any 
Negro  members  at  all  and  does  not  admit  them  now.  An  officer  writes: 
"I  have  never  lived  in  the  South  myself  and  do  not  know  very  much  about 
thern.  Will  say  that  I  think  the  reason  Negroes  have  never  been  admit- 
ted into  the  order  is  because  our  southern  brothers  will  not  agree  to  it. 
We  have  never  had  any  application  for  admission  that  I  ever  heard  of." 

The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen  and  Engineermen  denies 
Negroes  admission  by  their  constitution  and  by-laws.  The  general  sec- 
retary says:  "Our  delegates  in  convention  have  always  objected  to  them 
becoming  members." 

The  International  Brotherhood  of  Boiler  Makers,  Iron  Ship  Builders 
and  Helpers  of  America  reports  that  Negroes  are  not  admitted  to  the 
union  and  that  their  membership  is  provided  "by  secret  work."  Some 
of  the  officers,  however,  are  working  to  organize  in  Newport  News,  Va., 
ship  builders  who  are  colored  into  a  separate  union.  "Our  laws,  at  the 
present  time,  would  not  permit  the  organizing  of  the  Negro,  but  we  hope 
to  see  that  lodge.  I  expect  the  future  generations  to  provide  a  better 
way  so  that  we  can  be  together  in  one  local.  Of  course,  if  they  organize 
under  the  banner  of  this  order  their  traveling  cards  will  only  be  in  colored 
locals.  This  is  for  the  beginning,  but  in  future  years  I  expect  this  will 
be  eliminated.  There  is  only  color  against  them,  that  is  all  anyone  can 
say  and  we   cannot  work  it  out  by  violent  or  drastic  measures;  we  must 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  91 

take  time  to  work  it  out.     I  am  a  southern  man  out  and  out,  raised  and 

educated  in .     I  worked  with  the  Negroes  and  they  made  good  union 

men,  and  always  in  their  places  when  called  on.  There  is  a  future  for  the 
race  but  it  must  not  be  forced  on  the  white  race." 

The  Federation  of  Labor  of  Madison,  Wis.,  reports  no  colored  members 
in  any  of  the  local  unions  and  says  that  they  bar  Negroes  from  member- 
ship and  that  some  of  them  refuse  to  recognize  the  traveling  card  of  the 
Negro  mechanic.  This  is  on  account  of  color  and  the  objection  "is  not 
likely  to  disappear.  These  men  form  their  own  local  unions  if  there  are 
enough  to  do  so,"  says  the  secretary,  and  then  he  launches  forth:  "I 
also  wish  to  state  that  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  does  not  bar 
any  nationality  no  matter  what  creed,  color  or  sex,  and  separate  charters 
may  be  issued  to  unions  composed  exclusively  of  colored  members.  The 
American  Federation  of  Labor  spends  large  sums  to  organize  all  wage- 
earners  without  regard  to  class,  race  or  sex,  etc.  These  people,  if  organ- 
ized, will  become  better  workmen." 

The  American  Wire  Weavers'  Protective  Association  admits  only 
white  males. 

The  Paving  Cutters'  Union  of  the  United  States  and  Canada:    An 

officerof  that  union  says:  "We  have  no  law  against  them.  Haven't  had 
much  experience  with  the  Negro.  I  think  there  are  good  and  bad  among 
them  as  there  are  among  the  whites.  But  what  colored  men  I  have  ob- 
served in  our  trade,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  the  same  proficiency  in 
handling  the  tools  as  the  white  man.  From  our  members  in  the  South, 
particularly  in  Georgia,  whose  minds  on  the  Negro  question  possibly  may 
be  biased  to  a  more  or  less  extent,  I  am  led  to  believe  that  the  Negro  is 
unable  to  grasp  the  principles  of  unionism.  He  (the  Negro)  believes  in 
the  theory  that  half  a  loaf  is  better  than  none.  He  is  not  capable,  they 
say,  of  being  a  good  union  man,  working  out  his  own  salvation.  Possibly 
the  day  is  coming  when  he  will  equal  the  white  man,  mentally.  The  Ne- 
gro, speaking  in  connection  with  his  chances  industrially,  labors  under 
great  disadvantages.  In  the  first  place,  the  white  man  will  not,  especially 
those  in  the  South  (I  refer  especially  to  our  own  members),  tolerate  the 
Negro  to  be  on  the  same  level  as  himself.  The  fact  is  that  the  Negro  is  not 
wanted  in  the  trades.  He  is  all  right  as  long  as  he  is  satisfied  to  occupy 
a  position  less  than  or  below  that  occupied  by  the  white  man;  under  such 
conditions  he  and  the  white  man  get  along  very  well  together.  When  I  speak 
of  the  colored  man  not  seemingly  being  able  to  handle  the  tools  with  the 
same  proficiency  as  the  white  man,  I  perhaps  should  qualify  that  state- 
ment by  mentioning  the  fact  that  in  order  that  a  man — any  man— be  pro- 
ficient at  a  trade  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  learn  in  his  young  days,— grow 
up  with  the  trade  as  it  were.  Those  of  the  colored  people  who  have  been 
able  to  a  more  or  less  degree  to  learn  our  trade  have  done  so  under  ad- 
verse conditions.     They,  as  far  as  I  know,  have  never  been  trained  in 


92  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

their  young  days.     Those  who  have  managed  to  break  into  the  trade  have 
picked  it  up  as  best  they  could  while  working  as  helpers  to  the  mechanics. ' ' 

It  is  probable  that  ninety  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  of  the 
United  States  are  residents  of  the  South  and  so  it  is  of  interest 
to  note  the  attitude  of  unions  in  that  section.  The  reports 
from  the  South  are  of  special  interest. 

The  Waycross,  Ga.,  Trade  and  Labor  Assembly  reports  that  half 
of  the  brick-layers  and  forty-seven  of  the  carpenters  are  Negroes.  Ne- 
groes are,  however,  refused  admission  to  many  of  the  unions  and  some  of 
the  unions  refuse  to  recognize  the  traveling  card.  The  secretary  thinks 
Negro  workers  are  "treacherous  and  unreliable — can't  make  mechanics 
and  are  poor  imitators."     These  objections  will  "never"  disappear. 

Sedalia,  Mo.,  has  no  Negro  union  men,  but  the  secretary  of  the  labor 
organizations  writes:  "In  some  localities  perhaps  there  still  exists  that 
race  prejudice  kept  alive  by  the  employing  class  in  order  that  they  may 
array  race  against  race  for  the  exploitation  of  both.  Economic  pressure 
will  eventually  compel  a  closer  union  between  all  races — including  the 
Negro— for  their  emancipation  from  wage  slavery;  and  the  Negro  will 
be  found  fighting  just  as  valiantly  for  the  emancipation  of  the  toilers  as 
those  who  fought  to  break  the  shackles  from  four  million  blacks." 

The  Georgia  Federation  of  Labor  has  one  Negro  local.  The  secre- 
tary says:  "The  Georgia  Federation  does  not  bar  Negro  locals  or  mixt 
locals.  In  a  good  many  of  the  carpenters'  and  painters'  unions  there  are 
Negro  members.  I  have  only  one  local  that  is  composed  entirely  of 
Negroes.  Some  of  the  locals  absolutely  bar  Negroes  from  membership. 
The  chief  objection  that  I  hear  urged  against  them  is  the  difficulty  expe- 
rienced in  controlling  them  in  case  of  strike  and  in  preventing  them  from 
working  under  the  standard  wage  scale  in  their  locality." 

The  Trade  Assembly  at  Fort  Worth,  Tex.,  has  no  Negro  members 
altho  it  has  had  them  in  the  past.  The  objections  are  said  to  be  "social.  " 
"Negro  delegates  of  common  labor  and  hod  carriers  and  mortar  mixers 
have  been  admitted  to  the  Trade  Assembly  and  Building  Trades  Council 
when  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  but  in  the  skilled 
trades  Negroes  have  not  been  admitted." 

The  Federal  Labor  Union  of  Dallas,  Tex.,  "keeps  Negroes  out"  by  a 
provision  in  the  by-laws  and  by  the  refusal  of  members  to  elect  Negroes. 
The  reason  for  this  is  thus  stated  by  the  secretary:  "The  ingrained 
prejudice  towards  anything  that  looks  to  the  members  like  an  approach 
towards  social  equality.  I  think  that  this  prejudice  against  allowing  Ne- 
groes to  join  unions  is  unreasonable  and  that  the  pressure  of  economic 
forces  will  remove  it.  As  Negroes  become  more  skilled  they  will  become 
more  and  more  the  competitors  of  the  whites  in  the  labor  market  and  if 
I  hey  are  not  organized,  either  in  unions  with  whites  or  in  unions  parallel 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  93 

with  the  whites  and  bound  by  the  same  obligations  and  getting  protection 
from  corresponding  white  unions,  they  will  cut  the  throats  of  the  whites 
just  as  very  poor  immigrants  do  in  the  East  or  the  North.  The  rise  of 
Negro  unions  for  self-protection  will  probably  hasten  this  day.  Time  and 
education  will  go  far  to  produce  co-operation  among  Negroes  and  whites 
for  self-protection  just  as  the  progress  of  industry  has  forced  them  to  co- 
operate in  all  sorts  of  work  for  the  bosses." 

There  are  no  Negro  members  in  the  Central  Trades  and  Labor  Coun= 
cils  of  Roanoke,  Va.,  and  none  in  the  local  unions.  If  any  applied  there 
might  be  objections  on  account  of  color,  but  such  objections  are  "likely 
to  arise"  as  time  goes  on. 

From  a  town  in  Oklahoma  where  there  are  no  Negro  union  men 
comes  the  following  account:  "In  general  we  have  not  had  much  dealings 
with  the  Negro.  One  Negro  was  refused  admission  to  the  halls  who  car- 
ried a  card  fully  paid  up.  That  was  when  we  were  under  a  charter  of  the 
International  Liberty  Union.  The  most  important  part  was  that  the 
Negro  referred  to  above  was  a  deputy  organizer  whose  commission  had 
not  yet  expired." 

The  Trades  and  Labor  Council  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  has  twenty-five 
or  thirty  Negro  members  in  affiliated  unions.  The  writer  thinks  that 
prejudice  against  Negro  union  men  will  disappear  in  time. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  secretary  of  the  Marshall,  Texas,  Trades  and 
Labor  Council  does  not  think  these  objections  will  disappear.  He  says 
that  one  "cannot  make  them  stick  as  union  men;  will  scab  in  spite  of  all 
that  can  be  done."     This  council  has  no  affiliated  Negro  unions. 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Miami,  Fla.,  also  has  no  Negro  members. 
The  secretary  says  that  admitting  Negroes  has  a  "  tendency  to  lower 
wages  and  self-respect  of  white  mechanics  and  casts  a  stigma  of  associa- 
tion," and  he  hopes  that  these  objections  will  never  disappear. 

The  Labor  Assembly  of  Lavvton,  Okla.,has  no  Negro  union  men  and 
says  "we  are  not  troubled  with  them  to  any  extent." 

In  Greenville,  Texas,  Negroes  cannot  join  the  unions  but  may  have 
unions  of  their  own.  The  secretary  writes:  "The  Negro  makes  a  first- 
class  union  man  when  organized  and  properly  instructed.  In  times  of 
strikes  and  trouble  he  is  a  stayer.  I  long  to  see  the  day  when  all  of  the 
colored  people  are  organized  industrially  and  politically  and  cease  to  be 
thrown  about  by  every  ism  that  comes  along;  but  this  will  continue  until 
he  is  organized  and  educated." 

From  Temple,  Texas,  we  learn  that  Negroes  are  kept  out 
of  unions: 

The  objection  is  the  color-line,  caused  by  southern  traditions.  Nearly 
all  men  raised  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  do  not  want  to  give  the 
Negro  any  chance  to  become  expert  mechanics.     The  South  needs  a  great 


94  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

awakening  to  its  own  necessities  from  the  laboring  man's  standpoint.  I 
have  been  successfully  connected  with  the  labor  movement  for  several 
years  in  all  parts  of  the  country  as  far  as  the  southern  born  mechanic  is 
concerned.  First,  they  will  not  attend  their  local  meetings;  second,  they 
want  someone  else  to  take  the  lead  and  bear  all  the  brunt  of  battle.  If 
an  important  subject  is  to  come  up  on  meeting  night  just  a  quorum  is 
present  perhaps  out  of  thirty  or  forty  members.  It's  the  lack  of  union 
interest  and  principle.  Have  worked  hard  here  for  a  year  and  only  with 
the  help  of  rounders  have  been  able  to  organize  the  printers  and  musicians; 
clerks  and  bookkeepers,  stenographers,  factory  employees  seem  to  be 
afraid  of  losing  their  jobs. 

The  Teachers'  Union  of  San  Antonio,  Texas,  says  no  Negroes  may 
join  this  union.  "They  would  not  think  of  applying  here.  It  is  unthink- 
able because  it  means  social  equality  which  saps  the  foundations  of  race 
purity.  Neither  mongrel  Negroes  nor  mongrel  whites  are  desirable. ' '  The 
writer  does  not  think  that  these  objections  are  likely  to  be  overcome  in 
time  and  "certainly  hopes  not." 

An  officer  of  the  Texas  State  Federation  of  Labor  writes  as  follows: 
"It  is  generally  understood  that  the  white  trades  unions  of  Texas  do  not 
admit  colored  people  to  membership.  Once  in  a  while  a  Federal  Labor 
Union  is  organized  which  admits  on  equal  terms  both  races,  but  no  such 
organization  has  ever  lasted  long  and  there  is  none  now  in  the  state. 
There  are  a  few  Federal  Unions,  Longshoremen's  Unions  and  Barbers' 
Unions  composed  entirely  of  colored  people.  These  are  admitted  to 
membership  and  representation  in  the  Texas  State  Federation  of  Labor 
on  equal  terms  with  white  unions.  Colored  people,  however,  do  not  apply 
for  membership  in  white  unions  and  therefore  none  has  ever  been  refused 
admission.  Legally  unions  cannot  refuse  to  admit  a  Negro  if  he  is  other- 
wise qualified,  but  a  majority  of  no  union  would  admit  that  a  Negro  was 
qualified  for  membership.  Unions  cannot  legally  refuse  to  recognize  the 
traveling  card  of  a  union  man,  no  matter  if  he  is  colored,  but  they  would 
scarcely  tolerate  his  attending  meetings  or  working  on  the  same  job  with 
other  members.  In  some  trades  they  make  good  workmen,  which  creates 
all  the  more  enmity  against  them.  If  they  were  not  capable  of  becoming 
skilled  workers  in  any  trade  they  would  be  more  cheerfully  tolerated  by 
the  average  union  membership.  The  foundation  objection  to  admitting 
them  to  membership  in  unions  is  racial  prejudice,  which  again  is  based 
almost  wholly  on  the  competition  for  jobs  which  is  so  keenly  felt  by  work- 
ing men  of  both  races.  The  Negro  is  marked  with  a  color  that  distin- 
guishes him  from  other  poor  working  men  and  he  is  condemned  because 
he  often  works  cheaper,  is  more  docile  (servile),  takes  abuse  without 
quitting  and  lives  cheaper  than  white  men.  He  also  has  inherited  from 
slavery  days  a  lack  of  discrimination  as  to  what  is  honestly  his  and  is  in- 
clined to  retaliate  for  cruel  treatment  by  petty  pilfering  to  help  out  his 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  95 

starvation  wages.  The  poor  white  man  starves  and  helps  himself  to  any 
little  thing  he  can  pick  up  when  he  can  no  longer  secure  anything  by  ser- 
vility, beggary  or  cajolery.  The  situation  is  quite  deplorable  and  you  see 
the  poor  white  man  must  have  some  one  to  kick.  And  there  he  is!  Look 
at  the  color  of  his  skin. 

"These  objections  will  disappear  with  a  general  uplift  of  the  condi- 
tions of  the  poor.  When  the  economic  conditions  are  such  that  poverty 
will  be  abolisht  and  there  is  no  man  without  plenty  of  jobs  at  good  wages, 
racial  prejudices  will  entirely  disappear.  Make  monopoly  get  off  the  back 
of  the  worker  and  no  longer  will  any  bad  feeling  exist  between  the  races. 
Until  this  is  done  thru  an  equitable  system  of  taxation,  relieving  labor  of 
the  burden  and  placing  it  upon  monopoly,  there  is  no  hope  of  relief  from 
the  present  deplorable  situation. 

"Apply  the  single  tax  and  racial  prejudice  will  disappear  and  not 
before.     I  have  no  time  to  elaborate  this  statement,  but  it  is  true. 

"Yours  truly,  . " 

The  reports  from  the  various  city  centrals  furnish  perhaps 
the  best  conspectus  of  conditions  and  states  of  mind. 

California 

The  Alameda  County,  California,  Central  Labor  Council  has  Negro 
members  in  the  Teamsters,  No.  1015  Clay  street,  Oakland;  Cooks  and 
Waiters,  No.  31,  128£  Telegraph  avenue,  Oakland;  Journeymen  Barbers, 
No.  134,  1512  Broadway,  and  United  Laborers,  No.  13018,  311  Fourteenth 
street.  Applicants  have  not  been  refused  to  their  "knowledge,"  altho 
"there  is  a  strong  racial  prejudice  evidenced  in  some  of  the  so-called 
skilled  craft  unions.  I  have  known  some  very  good  Negro  workmen  who 
were  blacksmiths,  carpenters,  brick-layers,  plasterers,  painters  and 
printers.  My  experience  is  that  there  is  no  line  of  skill  in  which  the 
Negro  may  not  attain  efficiency.  The  chief  objection  is  racial;  the  cause 
of  this  is  the  tendency  toward  miscegenation  which  is  the  natural  out- 
growth of  social  assimilation  in  the  union  meeting.  I  do  not  believe 
that  these  objections  will  disappear  in  time  from  the  fact  that  they  inva- 
riably enhance  with  result  of  experience  in  both  white  and  black  races. 
Personally  I  sympathize  with  the  Negro  rather  because  his  presence  here 
is  the  result  of  the  white  man's  greed  to  which  I  find  myself  and  all  wage 
workers  victims.  I  feel  no  personal  animosity  toward  him,  tho  I  must 
confess  to  aversion  to  social  intercourse  of  a  very  close  nature,  possibly 
based  in  the  belie?  that  when  nature  created  the  races  it  was  with  the 
intent  that  they  be  kept  separate.  I  owe  the  race  a  debt  of  gratitude 
which  inspires  a  sympathy  with  all  who  are  mentally  fit  and  morally  my 
equal.  I  believe  that  as  time  goes  on  with  education  and  the  inculcation 
of  race  responsibility  in  industrial  affairs  men  will  prove  the  economic 
friends  of  the  Negro.     The  only  bar  that  now  stands  between  him  is  his 


96  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

preference  to  supplant  the  white  man  in  industry  at  a  lesser  price  than 
that  establisht  by  unions;  in  short,  his  allowing  himself  to  be  misled  into 
scabbing-  by  those  who  have  even  less  use  for  him  than  his  white  union 
brother  has.  I  believe  that  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  plan  to 
induct  him  into  separate  unions  where  race  prejudice  prevents  him  joining 
where  white  men  dominate  will  raise  the  Negro  in  the  estimation  of  all 
union  men.  Thru  organization  into  unions  he  will  be  taught  our  inter- 
responsibility. 

The  secretary  of  the  Central  Labor  Council  of  Los  Angeles,  Cal., 
says:  "We  have  one  local  union  of  Negro  building  laborers  and  hod 
carriers  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  members  that  is  not  affiliated 
with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  and  for  that  reason  is  not  affil- 
iated with  the  central  body.  Yes,  there  are  Negro  members  in  the  locals. 
Cannot  give  the  number  but  not  a  great  many.  Brick-layers,  hod  car- 
riers, plasterers,  carpenters,  cigar  makers,  boot-blacks,  teamsters,  elec- 
trical workers.  Negroes  are  barred  from  only  those  whose  international 
constitution  prohibits.  We  have  done  our  best  to  get  Negro  workmen 
interested  but  have  not  had  a  great  deal  of  success.  They  seem  to  be 
afraid  to  get  into  the  organization  for  some  reason  or  other.  Thru  the 
locals  we  have  taken  the  matter  up  with  the  international  unions  that 
have  a  clause  in  their  constitutions  that  bar  Negroes,  urging  them  to 
remove  the  clause." 

The  Richmond,  Cal.,  Contra  Costa  Central  Labor  Council  has  fifteen 
cement  workers  and  ten  hod  carriers.  These  are  Negroes.  They  also 
admit  that  the  unions  do  bar  Negroes  from  membership  and  have  refused 
admission  to  Negro  applicants  and  that  they  do  refuse  to  recognize  the 
traveling  card  of  a  Negro  mechanic.  "I  organized  the  Cement  Workers' 
Union;  at  the  beginning  sent  for  the  regular  organizer  to  come  from  San 
Francisco.  His  comment  after  looking  over  the  men  assembled  among 
whom  I  had  six  Negroes  was,  'It  looks  too  dark  for  me. '  This  remark 
of  the  organizer  expresses  the  only  objection  I  have  ever  heard.  I  would 
put  it,  not  in  his  language,  but  in  my  own,  which  is  prejudice  against  race 
and  color.  This  man,  a  naturalized  citizen,  proposed  to  bar  these  men 
who  were  born  citizens.  I  told  him  to  go  back  home  and  that  I  would 
organize  the  union  myself.  He  said  that  I  would  not  get  a  charter  but  I 
knew  our  rights  under  the  law  and  put  the  application  for  a  charter  up  to 
headquarters  in  such  a  way  that  they  knew  I  understood.  Well,  we  got 
the  charter  and  have  a  very  harmonious  mixt  union  which  has  been  in 
existence  now  for  three  years.  I  state  this  case  at  some  length,  believ- 
ing it  would  be  the  best  explanation  I  could  make.  Prejudice  is  all  I  can 
see  against  the  race.  The  colored  men  are  doing  their  work  and  satisfy- 
ing the  employer  and  are  good  union  men,  live  strictly  up  to  the  rules, 
pay  their  dues  and  attend  meetings.  The  large  cities  of  San  Francisco 
and  Oakland,  an  hour  and  a  half  from  Richmond,  bar  them  wherever  they 
can.     I  am  president  of  the  Central  Labor  Council  of  this  county;  am  also 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  97 

a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War  and  am  still  on  the  firing  line  for  principles  I 
advocated  over  forty  years  ago." 

The  Sacramento,  Cal.,  Trades  and  Federation  Council  has  one  hundred 
Negro  barbers  as  members,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  in  the  cement 
workers,  forty-five  hod  carriers  and  fifty  teamsters. 

The  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  Labor  Council  has  no  Negro  members.  The 
secretary  writes:  "Whatever  objections  there  may  have  been  in  the 
past  was  due  to  race  prejudice  which  has  been  overcome,  the  white  mem- 
bers realizing  that  if  the  Negro  is  going  to  live  he  must  work  and  if  they 
don't  let  him  work  alongside  of  them  during  the  time  they  are  enjoying 
industrial  peace  it  is  only  natural  for  the  Negro  to  take  the  place  of  the 
white  man  when  he  is  on  strike.  Also  the  Negro  has  stood  the  test  as  a 
union  man  wherever  he  has  been  on  strike  and  the  local  men  here  know 
it.  There  are  not  many  Negroes  in  San  Francisco  and  very  seldom  do  we 
hear  of  a  Negro  artisan  coming  along.  They  generally  make  their  home 
in  Los  Angeles,  where  the  climate  is  warmer.  There  they  have  a  strong 
membership  in  the  unions  and  some  very  active  representatives  in  the 
central  councils." 

Colorado 

The  Colorado  State  Federation  of  Labor  of  Denver,  Col.,  replies  that 
"there  are  Negro  members  in  the  local  numbering  one  hundred.  Several 
Negroes  are  employed  in  coal  mines  in  this  state." 

The  Pueblo,  Col.,  Trades  and  Labor  Assembly  is  "composed  of  Ne- 
groes to  about  thirty  in  number.     The  Steam   Engineers'  local,  No.  21, 

has  one  member.     Brother ,  of  the  steam  engineers,  is  considered  a 

first-class  workman.     Negroes  make  good  building  trades  laborers." 

Connecticut 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Derby,  Conn.,  says:  "There  are  four- 
teen locals  connected  with  this  organization  and  about  seven  have  Negro 
members.  They  are  the  carpenters,  brick-layers,  stone  masons,  iron 
molders,  machinists,  hotel  employees  and  hod  carriers.  No  Negro  appli- 
cant has  been  refused  admission  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  find  out;  it's  too  dan- 
gerous. As  the  capitalist  does  not  look  at  color,  we  have  to  use  the  same 
rules  to  play  the  game.  Formerly  in  industry  when  all  industries  were 
small,  ideas  were  small,  and  the  boss  usually  worked  beside  his  men  and 
what  the  boss  thot  the  men  usually  agreed  with,  and  he  was  particular  whom 
he  had  to  work  with  and,  of  course,  that  to  a  large  extent  kept  the  Negro 
out.  But  as  industries  became  diversified  and  the  workers  were  divorced 
from  the  boss  and,  in  fact,  never  saw  the  boss,  he  did  not  care  who  did 
the  work  so  long  as  his  profits  were  not  interferred  with;  so  when  his 
employees  struck  he  filled  their  places  with  Negroes,  who  had  been  denied 
membership  in  unions,  and  that  is  what  will  make  every  union  eventually 
open  its  doors  to  the  Negroes.     One  of  the  most  optimistic  signs  of  the 


98  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

times  I  know  of  is  the  growing  feeling  in  the  trades  union  movement  for 
economic  justice  for  the  Negro.  I  will  state  from  personal  experience  on 
the  Negro  that  up  to  four  or  five  years  ago  no  one  was  more  prejudiced 
against  the  Negro  than  myself  and  I  thot  it  was  just  and  proper  to  keep 
him  out  of  my  union  if  possible.  However,  I  have  since  that  time  joined 
the  Socialist  party  and  have  found  out  my  mistake,  that  as  the  capitalist 
class  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  neither  can  the  workers  be  divided  in 
sex,  race  or  color,  but  must  constitute  themselves  into  a  political  party 
separate  and  distinct  unto  themselves  and  take  over  all  the  means  of 
production  and  distribution,  thus  insuring  every  man  a  job  and  means  of 
livelihood  with  time  for  recreation  and  self-culture.  Then  and  then  only 
will  the  Negro  worker  and  white  worker  be  able  to  pave  the  way  for  the 
real  brotherhood  of  man." 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Waterbury,  Conn.,  has  no  Negro  mem- 
bers. 

Illinois 

The  Aurora,  111. ,  Trades  and  Labor  Assembly  has  '  'twenty -five  Negroes 
in  Building  Laborers'  Union,  about  six  in  Teamsters'  Union;  both  unions 
are  composed  of  white  and  black  members.  No  objections  as  to  color. 
As  a  rule  there  is  a  good  class  of  Negroes  in  Aurora." 

The  Carlinville,  111.,  Trades  and  Labor  Assembly  has  "about  fifteen 
Negro  members  in  the  Federal  Labor  Union." 

The  Carrier  Mills,  111.,  Central  Labor  Union  has  "probably  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  altogether  in  Miners'  Unions,  Nos.  1059,  1112  and  2837. 
Have  no  objections  here  at  this  place,  but  there  are  places  in  this  country 
where  they  are  not  allowed." 

The  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor  is  a  central  body  comprising  over 
two  hundred  and  seventy  local  unions.  "We  have  one  local  union  com- 
prising all  Negro  members,  —  the  Asphalt  Pavers  and  Helpers'  Union,  No. 
25, — who  are  regularly  affiliated  with  the  international,  who  are  affiliated 
with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  We  have  Negro  delegates  from 
several  other  organizations.  I  know  of  no  union  affiliated  with  the  fed- 
eration that  prevents  Negroes  from  joining;  at  least  this  office  has  never 
received  any  complaint  from  that  direction.  We  often  try  to  organize  the 
Negro  but  find  it  difficult  for  one  reason  or  another,  principally,  the  em- 
ployer is  successful  in  always  getting  some  Negro  to  tell  others  that 
organized  labor  is  not  their  friend,  etc.  The  employer  always  has  in 
mind  it  is  to  his  best  interest  to  keep  the  Negroes  unorganized." 

The  Danville,  111.,  Trades  and  Labor  Council  has  about  seven  hun- 
dred Negro  members  in  Miners'  Union  and  forty  in  the  Brick,  Tile  and 
Terra  Cotta  Workers'  Alliance,  but  admits  that  they  do  bar  Negroes 
from  membership  and  have  had  Negroes  as  applicants.  "We  recommend 
that  the  Negro  join  the  trades  union  of  his  trade  whenever  possible.     We 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  99 

also  recommend  that  the  Negro  make  a  study  of  the  different  political 
parties  so  when  voting  to  vote  intelligently  and  to  back  up  his  union  with 
political  action." 

The  Springfield,  111.,  Federation  of  Labor  has  Negro  members  in  the 
local  unions,  consisting  of  miners,  barbers,  hod  carriers  and  cement  work- 
ers. Some  local  unions  do  "bar  Negroes  from  membership  and  Negro 
applicants  have  been  refused  admission  to  the  unions." 

Indiana 

From  the  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Central  Labor  Union  comes  the  word 
that  they  have  Negro  members  composed  of  "hod  carriers,  building  la- 
borers, plasterers  and  the  structural  iron  workers.  The  plasterers  num- 
ber five,  the  structural  iron  workers  one,  and  the  hod  carriers  and  build- 
ing laborers  about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five.  Once  the  bricklayers 
refused  a  Negro  member  but  the  international  lodge  fined  the  local  $150. 
Color  is  sometimes  an  objection  but  the  chief  objection  is  the  fact  that 
once  the  doors  are  opened  wide  too  many  would  come  and  cause  an  over 
supply  of  mechanics  for  the  work  in  view.  The  objections  will  certainly 
disappear  in  time.  The  objection  held  against  the  colored  race  is  the 
same  as  is  held  against  the  foreign  races  who  are  generally  brot  into 
sections  where  labor  troubles  abound  and  the  prejudice  is  more  deep 
seated  against  the  colored  man  on  account  of  the  fact  that  he  understands 
the  English  language;  but  for  every  colored  man  who,  to  use  a  harsh 
term,  scabs  there  are  two  white  men  who  do  the  same.  The  best  solu- 
tion is  to  see  that  the  mechanic  or  artisan  is  thoroly  schooled  in  all 
branches  of  whatever  trade  he  may  learn  and  ability  will  certainly  do  more 
for  him  than  any  agitation  either  for  or  against  organizing  him  can  off- 
set." 

The  Logansport,  Ind.,  Trades  Assembly  has  "twenty-one  Negro  mem- 
bers in  the  Journeymen  Barbers'  Union,  No.  48,  out  of  a  total  of  forty- 
three;  from  four  to  five  in  Building  Laborers'  Union,  according  to  state 
of  the  trade."  The  railway  orders  do  bar  Negro  members.  The  secretary 
has  never  heard  of  the  traveling  card  being  refused  in  that  city  nor  that  the 
electrical  workers  would  bar  Negroes.  '  'There  are  many  objections  offered, 
but  I  have  failed  so  far  to  hear  a  valid  one.  I  am  persuaded  that  it  is  pure 
hatred  and  race  prejudice  in  most  instances.  Ignorance  lies  at  the  bot- 
tom of  it  all.  The  railway  men  put  forth  the  rather  weak  argument  that 
the  Negro  is  not  reliable  and  cannot  be  trusted.  This,  of  course,  pertains 
to  railway  train  service.     I  hope  these  objections  will  disappear." 

In  Richmond,  Ind.,  the  Central  Labor  Union  has  no  Negro  members 
and  "there  has  been  very  little  race  trouble  here;  in  fact,  not  as  much 
as  occurs  in  the  average  northern  city  of  this  size.  Negroes  have  not 
applied  for  admission  into  the  unions,  therefore  we  have  never  heard  any 
objections." 


i  00  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Iowa 

The  Dubuque,  la.,  Trades  and  Labor  Congress  has  no  Negro  members 
"at  present."  The  secretary  writes:  ''Whilst  quite  a  number  of  colored 
people  are  employed  in  this  city  yet  they  do  not  seem  to  be  impregnated 
with  unionism  as  we  would  like." 

Kansas 

The  Emporia,  Kansas,  Trades  and  Labor  Council  has  no  Negro  mem- 
bers. The  secretary- treasurer  writes :  '  'Negroes  should  be  treated  white 
but  kept  separate." 

The  Girard,  Kansas,  Industrial  Labor  Council  has  four  Negro  mem- 
bers belonging  to  the  Federal  Labor  Union,  No.  12756.  Unions  do  bar 
Negroes  from  membership. 

Massachusetts 

The  State  Branch  American  Federation  of  Labor  of  Boston,  Mass., 
sends  the  following  message:  "We  know  no  race,  no  creed  and  no  color." 

The  Haverhill,  Mass.,  Central  Labor  Union  has  twenty-eight  Negro 
members  in  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers'  Union.  No  Negro  applicant  has 
ever  been  refused  "on  account  of  color."  The  chief  objection  to  them  is 
"their  willingness  to  take  unfair  jobs. "  These  objections  may  disappear 
"by  trade  union  education.  " 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  North  Adams,  Mass.,  has  no  Negro 
members  "at  present."  The  objections  being  "none  outside  of  not  de- 
siring social  intercourse.  But  in  the  broad  field  of  labor  and  labor  organi- 
zation I  know  of  no  objection,  either  to  work  with  or  to  hold  membership 
in  the  same  organization." 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  has  Negro  members 
in  unions  of  brick-layers,  builders,  laborers,  carpenters,  painters  and 
coal  handlers.  The  secretary  says:  "From  answers  received  from  ninety- 
five  per  cent  of  the  local  unions  affiliated  with  their  central  body,  not  one 
barred  a  Negro  from  membership  if  he  was  a  capable  mechanic  and  could 
pass  the  regular  examination  given  to  all  applicants.  A  case  came  to  my 
attention:  Several  on  a  job  in  a  small  town  where  a  number  of  brick- 
layers refused  to  work  with  a  Negro  and  the  labor  union  of  which  they 
were  members  was  fined  $100." 

Michigan 

The  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  Trades  Council  has  one  Negro  member,  a 
carpenter. 

Missouri 

The  Springfield,  Mo.,  City  Central  Union  has  "a  colored  local  of 
building  laborers  and  hod  carriers  with  a  membership  of  eighty.  The 
barbers  have  twenty  members,  but  they  do  bar  some  applicants  for  mem- 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  101 

bership.  We  have  Negro  workmen  in  the  harness  craft,  molders  and 
blacksmiths  that  I  know  of  and  they  are  fair  mechanics;  and  also  bar- 
bers and  team  drivers.  Their  color  is  the  most  often  used  in  the  rejecting 
of  colored  men  in  a  white  local.  The  objections  are  not  likely  to  disappear 
altogether  but  they  are  not  as  common  as  formerly." 

Montana 

The  secretary  of  the  Anaconda,  Mont.,  American  Federation  of  La- 
bor writes  that  they  have  "twenty-one  Negro  members  at  present  as 
compared  with  six  in  1900.  The  average  Negro  of  this  vicinity  makes  a 
first-class  citizen  as  a  whole  and  the  Negroes  are  very  industrious. 
There  are  about  forty-five  Negro  members  of  the  Mill  and  Smeltermen's 
Union  employed  by  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Company  as  engine 
drivers  and  switchmen." 

Federal  Labor  Union,  No.  12968,  of  Miles  City,  Mont.,  has  no  Negro 
members,  objection  being  "color."  "At  present  I  am  working  with  a 
colored  man  and  have  been  for  two  years  past  for  the  street  department. 
I  find  him  a  good  working  man.  All  crafts,  including  electricians,  team- 
sters, engineers  and  common  laborers,  are  organized  and  all  members 
paid  up.  He  sent  in  his  application  two  years  ago  and  was  turned  down 
on  account  of  color,  but  we  recognized  his  rights  and  therefore  he  is 
working  right  amongst  strictly  union  men  and  is  not  bothered." 

Nebraska 

The  Omaha,  Neb.,  State  Federation  of  Labor  has  no  Negro  members 
'  'at  present' '  altho  in  1900  they  had  '  'several  in  building  laborers. ' '  "No, ' ' 
the  unions  cannot  refuse  to  recognize  the  traveling  card  of  a  Negro  union 
man.  "We  want  the  Negroes  to  feel  that  we  will  protect  them  if  they 
will  stand  with  us." 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Lincoln,  Neb.,  has  "probably  ten"  Ne- 
gro members  in  the  Plasterers'  and  Federal  Labor  Unions.  The  secretary 
writes:  "The  only  objection  that  I  know  of  is  the  old  story:  'A  Negro  is 
not  as  good  as  a  white  man.'  " 

The  South  Omaha,  Neb.,  Central  Labor  Union  has  Negro  members, 
numbering  one  in  the  barbers'  union  and  one  in  the  printers.  The  secre- 
tary writes,  "They  are  not  usually  good  union  men." 

New  Hampshire 

"The  State  Branch  of  the  New  Hampshire  Federation  of  Labor  in 
Manchester,  N.  H.,  is  a  voluntary  federation  of  unions  in  this  state  and 
I  do  not  know  of  any  union  in  the  state  that  bars  the  Negro  workman 
from  membership,  neither  do  I  believe  that  there  is  any  good  reason  to 
bar  any  worker  because  of  his  color,  if  he  is  otherwise  eligible  to  mem- 
bership. I  do  not  know  how  many  Negroes  are  members  of  locals  in  this 
state.     We  meet  in  convention  once  a  year,  and  we  have  had  a  Negro 


1  02  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

delegate  twice  from  a  local  of  paving  cutters,  he  being  the  only  colored 
man  in  the  local. " 

New  Jersey 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Camden,  N.  J.,  sends  the  following 
message:  "We  never  have  had  any  application  from  any  local  union  that 
was  composed  of  colored  people." 

New  York 

The  New  York  State  Federation  of  Labor  says:  "This  is  a  delegate 
body  and  there  is  no  distinction  as  to  color  or  creed.  Negro  delegates 
have  been  seated  and  none  rejected." 

Berlin,  N.  Y.,  Central  Labor  Union  sends  the  following  word:  "If  we 
had  more  Negro  members  as  good  as  the  one  we  have  I  think  it  would  be 
better  for  the  unions." 

In  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  the  Central  Labor  Union  has  Negro  members  in  the 
brick-layers  and  masons  to  the  number  of  five  and  the  barbers  two.  "No 
objections  and  from  experience  I  think  it  is  general  thruout  the  North. 
In  our  Central  Labor  Union  we  have  one  colored  delegate.  He  is  from 
the  Barbers'  Union;  he  is  one  of  our  best  workers  and  highly  appreciated 
by  all." 

The  Central  Labor  Council  of  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  has  Negro  members 
in  the  Barbers'  Union.  The  secretary  writes:  "The  objections  are 
'color. '  I  believe  this  is  a  serious  mistake.  I  myself  have  more  respect 
for  the  Negro  than  for  the  aliens  who  come  to  this  country,  as  the  Negro  is 
an  American  citizen  and  we  should  help  to  uplift  him  and  respect  him." 

Central  Trades  and  Labor  Council  of  Kingston,  N.  Y.,  has  a  Negro 
member  "and  he  is  recording  secretary  of  the  Butchers'  Union;  also  one 
who  belongs  to  the  Hod  Carriers'  Union  and  he  is  a  hustler." 

The  Lancaster,  N.  Y.,  Central  Labor  Union  has  no  Negro  members 
and  says  "there  are  some  members  here  who  do  not  like  to  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  Negro  as  a  member  to  our  different  locals.  But  the  general 
feeling  is  this  way:  If  he  is  a  man,  black  or  white,  and  can  show  us  good 
credentials,  we  take  him  in." 

In  the  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  Trade  and  Labor  Council  there  are  Negro 
members— two  carpenters,  one  sheet  metal  worker  and  one  hod  carrier. 

The  Salamanca,  N.  Y.,  Central  Labor  Council  has  no  Negro  members 
"at  present,"  the  reasons  given  being  "social." 

The  Federation  of  Labor,  Troy,  N.  Y.,  has  Negro  members  in  the 
barbers,  waiters,  teamsters  and  other  unions.  The  objections  are  none. 
"A  delegate  in  this  body,  Mr.  Adams,  is  one  of  our  most  efficient  and  re- 
spected members.  He  is  a  full-blooded  Negro  and  represents  the  Barbers' 
Union,  composed  mainly  of  whites." 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  1  03 

The  White  Plains,  N.  Y.,  Central  Labor  Union  has  Negro  members: 
"Laborers'  Local  Union,  No.  9,  has  fifteen  members.  Also  the  hod  car- 
riers have  ten  members.  The  members  of  this  body  that  have  worked 
with  them  say  they  are  apt  to  be  careless  in  their  work.  The  Negro 
members  that  attend  this  body  attend  meetings  better  than  some  of 
the  white  men." 

Ohio 

The  Akron  Central  Labor  Union  of  Akron,  Ohio,  has  Negro  members 
in  the  unions  of  barbers,  steam  engineers  and  lathers,  altho  there  are  "very 
few."  The  traveling  card  of  a  Negro  mechanic  is  not  refused  recogni- 
tion "any  more  than  whites."  "There  are  no  objections  to  the  Negro  if 
he  should  want  to  be  a  union  man,  so  far  as  I  know.  What  few  Negro 
members  we  have  in  this  city  are  good  mechanics  and  make  good  mem- 
bers." 

In  Columbus,  Ohio,  the  Federation  of  Labor  has  Negro  members, 
consisting  of  the  musicians,  who  have  fifteen  members.  The  Hod  Car- 
riers' Union  has  all  Negroes.  The  secretary  writes:  "I  have  never  heard 
of  any  objection  in  this  community  unless  it  is  one  of  association.  The 
brewery  workers  have  two  Negro  members  in  the  powers'  department  as 
firemen.  We  have  no  Negro  problem  in  this  state  to  amount  to  anything, 
the  chief  objection  being  that  of  the  whites  not  wanting  to  associate  with 
the  Negro. ' ' 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Fremont,  Ohio,  has  no  Negro  members 
altho  they  used  to  have  Negro  members  in  the  local  unions.  "When  you 
find  one  good  one  you  will  find  one  bad  one." 

The  Mansfield,  Ohio,  Trades  Council  has  no  Negro  members.  The 
secretary-treasurer  says  he  does  not  know  the  objections.  "What  few 
unions  do  bar  them  do  so  on  orders  from  headquarters.  What  their  objec- 
tion is  I  do  not  know." 

The  Middletown,  Ohio,  Trades  and  Labor  Council  has  Negro  members 
in  the  "hod  carriers  only." 

The  East  Palestine,  Ohio,  Trades  Council  "has  two  locals  partly  com- 
posed of  Negroes;  that  is,  about  fifty  members  per  local.  There  are  two 
in  the  barbers  and  four  in  the  brick-layers  and  masons.  We  do  not  think 
it  would  be  policy  to  bar  any  nationality  or  color  from  labor  organizations 
as  long  as  they  conduct  themselves  in  the  right  manner  and  use  the  organi- 
zation to  which  they  belong  in  the  right  manner  and  for  the  cause  which 
it  advocates— the  uplift  of  the  working  man  and  wages." 

The  Steubenville,  Ohio,  Trades  and  Labor  Assembly  has  Negro 
members  in  the  unions  of  barbers,  hod  carriers  and  teamsters.  The  bar- 
bers have  thirteen,  the  hod  carriers  sixteen  and  the  teamsters  eight.  The 
local  unions  do  bar  Negroes  from  membership  and  Negro  applicants  have 
been  refused  admission  to  the  unions  and  the  traveling  cards  are  refused 
in  most  cases. 


1  04  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Oregon 

The  Trades  and  Labor  Council  of  Salem,  Ore.,  has  no  Negro  members. 
"The  bar-tenders'  locals  require  that  the  Negroes  form  a  separate  union 
and  will  not  allow  them  in  with  the  whites.  The  chief  objection  being, 
as  far  as  I  know,  simply  the  fact  that  they  are  black." 

Pennsylvania 

The  Bradford,  Pa.,  Trades  Assembly  has  one  or  two  Negro  members. 
They  say  some  unions  do  bar  Negro  applicants,  not  all.  "There  are  so 
many  lazy,  worthless  Negroes,  who  bring  the  whole  race  into  disrepute. 
The  honest  working  Negro  is  treated  squarely  as  far  as  my  observations 
go.  They  have  been  delegates  to  this  body  but  the  union  they  belonged 
to  disbanded.  Whether  the  objections  will  disappear  or  not  depends  on 
the  Negro  himself,  I  think." 

The  secretary  of  the  Chester,  Pa.,  Federation  of  Labor  says:  "I  don't 
know  of  any  objection,  as  we  have  never  yet  been  up  against  the  question 
of  admitting  them.  The  Negro  in  this  section  is  as  a  rule  usually  working 
at  cart  driving  or  laboring  work  in  general,  and  as  yet  they  have  made 
no  attempt  to  get  into  the  trades  in  general.  But  I  must  say  if  they  tried 
to  join  the  unions  in  this  city,  I  think  we  would  have  to  be  shown  before 
they  would  be  taken  in,  as  color  prejudice  is  rather  strong." 

The  Lancaster,  Pa.,  Central  Labor  Union  has  no  Negro  members  "at 
present;"  there  were  hod  carriers  but  they  have  withdrawn  and  are  now 
a  lodge.  I  can  give  no  reason  at  all  for  objections,  because  we  have  no 
applications  from  them  and  not  many  work  in  our  own  crafts  that  are 
organized.  We  have  had  a  national  treasurer  from  Tampa,  Fla.,  who 
was  a  Negro  artisan  of  my  own  craft  of  the  International  Cigar  Makers' 
Union  of  America,  and  have  thousands  of  good  union  men  of  his  race  and 
we  don't  bar  them  in  any  place.  As  for  other  crafts  in  other  localities,  I 
could  not  say;  but  here  we  never  get  any  applications  for  membership  as 
yet."     He  hopes  these  objections  will  disappear. 

The  Nanticoke,  Pa.,  Federation  of  Labor  has  Negro  members.  They 
state  that  local  unions  make  their  own  rules,  but  they  think  none  is 
excluded  in  this  state. 

The  Royersford  and  Spring  City,  Pa.,  Trades  Council  has  no  Negro 
members.  "The  only  objections  that  I  ever  heard  of  amongst  the  various 
trades  unionists  here  was  because  they  are  Negroes.  What  few  Ne- 
groes that  I  have  ever  had  occasion  to  come  in  contact  with  in  any  of  our 
public  works,  I  can  personally  say  that  I  would  much  rather  work  with 
the  colored  man  than  the  majority  of  the  dumpings  of  Europe  that  land 
on  our  shores  every  day." 

The  Williamsport,  Pa.,  Trades  Union  Assembly  has  Negro  members 
in  the  hod  carriers'  and  barbers'  unions.  The  secretary  says:  "In  this 
city  I  notice  in  particular  the  race  is  lazy  and  indifferent,  as  probably  in 


The  Negro  and  Organized  Labor  1  05 

other  sections  of  which  I  know  not.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  with  us 
a  few  Christian  gentlemen — black  faces,  but  white  hearts,  and  who  may 
be  trusted  in  the  extreme." 

In  Wilkesbarre,  Pa.,  the  Central  Labor  Union  has  no  Negro  members 
but  has  Negro  delegates.  Negro  applicants  can  "form  unions  of  Negroes 
in  all  that  do  refuse  to  admit  and  get  charters  from  international  unions. 
Most  of  the  objections  are  racial  and  will  disappear  the  more  the  Negro 
takes  part  in  the  union  movement." 

Rhode  Island 

The  Woonsocket,  R.  I.,  Central  Labor  Union  has  no  Negro  members 
and  the  secretary  writes  "there  has  never  been  any  Negroes  who  applied 
for  admission  to  any  of  our  local  unions." 

Wisconsin 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Ashland,  Wis.,  has  no  Negro  members. 
The  secretary  writes:  "Some  unions  admit  only  white  men,  barring  In- 
dians and  Chinese  as  well  as  Negroes.  Lower  plane  of  living  makes 
these  willing  to  work  at  a  lower  wage  and  consequent  lowering  of  stand- 
ards. Racial  prejudice  is  at  the  bottom.  Race  problem  has  no  bearing 
at  so  northern  a  point  as  this  and  receives  little  attention." 

The  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis.,  Trades  and  Labor  Council  says:  "Some  have 
one  member  or  so,  among  whom  are  masons  and  brick-layers.  The  ob- 
jections are  none  because  we  are  all  wage  slaves  regardless  of  creed  or 
color." 

The  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  Federated  Trades  Council  has  Negro  members 
in  the  carpenters,  hod  carriers  and  cement  workers.  "There  is  no  objec- 
tion to  admitting  them  to  trade  unions  here.  In  fact  they  are  engaged 
in  any  trade.     Every  attempt  is  made  to  get  them  to  join." 

The  Waukesha,  Wis.,  Trade  and  Labor  Council  has  no  Negro  assem- 
bly. The  secretary  says:  "We  have  no  Negroes  in  our  locals  and  never 
had  any  applications." 

Washington 

The  Central  Labor  Council  of  Seattle,  Wash.,  has  "some  Negro  mem- 
bers, number  unknown,  but  a  sprinkling  in  painters,  building  laborers, 
federal  (common)  labor  and  carpenters.  This  being  a  northern  country 
and  the  racial  problem  being  of  an  oriental  nature  there  is  very  little  ob- 
jection to  the  Negro  on  any  grounds." 

Porto  Rico 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Porto  Rico  sends  the  following  message: 
"Our  organization  has  ninety  per  cent  Negro  members.  As  a  state  we 
have  unions  composed  of  ninety  per  cent  of  colored  people.  There  are 
Negro  members  in  locals;  in  fact,  more  than  three  thousand  are  colored 


1  06  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

members  in  the  trades  of  carpenters,  masons,  janitors,  printers,  machin- 
ists and  all  trades.  We  have  no  division  or  difference  of  color  lines  in  our 
country.  We  could  not  tolerate  such  divisions  of  race  anyway  in  this 
country.  Here  in  Porto  Rico  there  are  two  classes  of  people,  the  rich 
men  and  the  poor  men,  and  there  are  no  other  differences  among  the 
people  than  those  which  come  of  social  standing.  We  fight  against  the 
ignorance  of  the  people  and  against  the  exploitation  and  tyranny  put  in 
practice  for  those  who  make  capital." 

The  Caguas  Central  Labor  Union  of  Porto  Rico  says:  "Our  members 
are  one  thousand  and  we  have  three  per  cent  of  Negroes  in  the  unions. 
There  are  some  in  all  unions." 

Ontario 

The  Hamilton,  Ontario,  Trades  and  Labor  Council  has  Negro  mem- 
bers but  cannot  state  the  exact  number.  They  include  cigar  makers, 
tobacco  workers,  lathers,  barbers,  teamsters  and  letter  carriers.  The 
secretary  writes:  "I  am  instructed  to  inform  you  that  Negro  artisans 
are  not  discriminated  against  in  this  city;  that,  if  so,  it  has  never  been 
brot  to  our  notice." 

Section  32.     Some  Results  of  the  Attitude  of  Unions 

What  are  some  of  the  results  of  the  attitude  of  organized 
labor  toward  Negro  members?  As  mentioned  before,  the 
separate  Negro  local  is  one  method  of  solution.  The  secretary 
of  a  Negro  local  in  New  Orleans,  the  Street  Track  Repairers' 
Union,  writes: 

In  answer  to  your  question  blank,  let  me  say  that  I  am  a  Negro, 
filling  the  office  of  corresponding  secretary  of  our  local  union,  working 
hard  by  day  and  attending  to  my  official  duties  at  night,  not  feeling 
the  least  impatient  in  so  doing  because  I  have  the  union  at  heart.  I  have 
been  and  always  will  be  for  the  union  cause  even  if  this  local  sinks.  I 
shall  be  with  one  that  is  above  the  tide  if  I  have  to  send  my  application 
to  some  other  local  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  I  always  try 
to  keep  my  conscience  clear  with  my  fellow  mates  and  brethren  so  that 
they  may  not  point  the  finger  of  scorn  at  me. 

On  the  other  hand,  many  Negroes  are  working  peacefully 
as  members  of  mixed  unions.  Numerous  instances  of  this 
are  noted  in  the  replies  of  artisans  printed  in  sections  6-30. 
From  Sheridan,  Wyoming,  comes  the  following  message: 

I  would  like  to  state  that  I  have  been  a  member  in  good  standing  of 
Local  No.  126%  for  the  past  four  years.  I  am  a  charter  member  and 
have  boon  a  regular  attendant  upon  the  meetings  save  when  I  was  absent 


Some  Results  of  the  Attitude  of  Unions  107 

from  the  city.  During  this  period  there  has  never  been  the  slightest  ob- 
jection raised  whenever  a  Negro  candidate  was  presented  for  member- 
ship.    You  are  at  liberty  to  use  this  in  any  way  you  choose. 

The  relation  of  the  Negro  to  organized  labor  in  Pennsyl- 
vania is  discussed  at  length  in  Dr.  Wright's  "The  Negro  in 
Pennsylvania. ' '  The  following  selections  are  taken  from  that 
valuable  study  in  economic  history:1 

The  great  mass  of  Negro  laborers  are  unorganized  and  come  in  con- 
tact but  little  with  the  labor  union.  There  are  a  few  Negroes  in  Phila- 
delphia who  are  members  of  some  of  the  unions,  viz.,  the  carpenters,  stone 
masons,  brick-layers,  painters,  cement  layers,  asphalt  pavers,  etc.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  are  some  unions  which  do  not  admit  or  have  not 
admitted  Negroes,  such  as  the  machinists,  locomotive  engineers,  etc.  In 
the  more  skilled  trades  the  Negro  union  laborers  number  less  than  two 
hundred  in  Philadelphia  and  less  than  three  hundred  in  Pennsylvania.  Of 
unskilled  labor  the  most  thoroly  organized  group  is  that  of  the  hod  carriers. 
Thruout  the  state  there  are  Negro  hod  carriers.  In  Philadelphia  there  is 
a  local  union  composed  chiefly  of  Negroes,  with  a  Negro  president.  This 
union,  the  Light  Star  Lodge,  owns  a  four  story  brick  hall,  valued  at  about 
$20,000.  In  Pittsburg  also  the  Hod  Carriers'  Union  is  composed  pre- 
dominantly of  Negroes,  but  is  not  as  large  as  the  Philadelphia  lodge. 
Next  to  the  hod  carriers  come  the  miners.  All  of  the  Negro  miners  in 
the  state  are  union  men  and  members  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America.  These  are  located  chiefly  in  the  western  part  of  the  state, 
having  their  district  headquarters  at  Pittsburg.  The  United  Mine  Work- 
ers is  one  of  the  few  unions  in  which  the  Negroes  agree  that  they  re- 
ceive fair  treatment.  In  some  of  these  miners'  unions  there  are  Negro 
officers  and  Negroes  are  always  in  attendance  at  the  annual  meetings. 

Negroes  have  made  some  attempts  at  independent  organizations.  The 
most  successful  of  these  is  that  among  the  hoisting  engineers,  steam  and 
gas  engineers,  started  in  Pittsburg  in  1900  and  incorporated  in  1903  under 
"The  National  Association  of  Afro- American  Steam  and  Gas  Engineers 
and  Skilled  Laborers  in  America."  While  the  intention  is  to  organize 
Negro  labor  on  a  racial  basis,  there  is  no  antagonism  to  the  general  labor 
movement.  It  is  merely  believed  by  the  promoters  to  be  better  for 
Negro  workmen.  This  union  has  been  of  slow  growth,  however.  There 
are  only  three  locals  in  the  state;  two  at  Pittsburg,  having  fifty  members, 
and  one  at  Reading.  In  Philadelphia  there  is  an  organization  of  hoisting 
engineers  which  as  yet  is  not  connected  with  the  Pittsburg  union.  There 
are  numerous  societies  and  clubs  among  Negroes  which  are  organized 
along  labor  lines;  but  which  are  more  social  and  beneficial  clubs  than  la- 
bor unions.     The  largest  of  these  is  the  Hotel  Brotherhood,  establisht  at 


1  Wright,  Dr.  R.  R.,  Jr.:  The  Negro  in  Pennsylvania,  pp.  94-95,  98-100. 


108  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Philadelphia  in  1881,  and  including-  present  or  former  hotel  employees.  It 
pays  sick  and  death  benefits  and  acts  as  a  kind  of  clearing  house  for  hotel 
labor.  In  1906  the  brotherhood  purchased  a  club  house  at  the  cost  of 
$15,000.  The  bell-men,  the  Pullman  car  porters,  the  janitors,  the  private 
waiters,  the  caterers,  the  coachmen  and  others  in  domestic  and  personal 
service,  have  similar  but  smaller  organizations.  These  organizations 
serve  largely  as  aids  in  securing  work,  but  have  made  but  little  attempt 

to  regulate  wages  and  apprentices 

The  general  opinion  of  the  Negro  workers  in  the  Pittsburg  steel  mills 
who  were  interviewed  by  the  writer  is  that  the  unions  are  a  hindrance 
rather  than  a  help  to  the  Negro.  Several  have  been  members  and  one 
had  been  president  of  a  southern  union  and  a  delegate  to  the  National 
Convention  of  Steel  Workers;  some  had  gone  out  on  strikes  for  the  union. 
Their  testimony  is  summarized  as  follows: 

1.  The  organizations  out  of  which  the  Amalgamated  Association  of 
Steel  and  Iron  Workers  was  formed  did  not  admit  Negroes. 

2.  After  the  Amalgamated  Association  was  formed  white  union  men 
refused  to  work  with  Negro  union  men  or  to  help  protect  Negro  work- 
men, thus  making  union  membership  of  no  industrial  value  to  the  Negro 
workers. 

3.  All  the  new  opportunities  secured  by  Negroes  have  been  gotten 
in  spite  of  the  union,  not  with  its  aid. 

4.  Membership  was  offered  to  Negroes  only  after  they  had  success- 
fully won  their  places  against  unions  and  the  pledges  of  membership  gen- 
erally broken  by  the  white  members.     .     -     .     . 

.  .  .  When  the  present  investigation  was  made  .  .  .  very  few 
Negroes  could  be  found  who  had  recently  applied  to  the  unions  for  ad- 
mission. .  .  .  The  .  .  .  investigator  .  .  .  found  a  very  pro- 
nounced opinion  prevalent  among  the  Negroes  that  they  were  not  welcome 
in  the  unions.  Now  instead  of  applying  for  admission  to  the  unions,  the 
Negroes  take  for  granted  that  the  unions  are  hostile  and  they  do  not  seek 
to  join. 

This  attitude  has  the  effect  of  preventing  many  Negroes  from  at- 
tempting to  follow  their  trade.  The  newcomer  who  has  probably  worked 
at  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  in  the  South  is  informed  as  soon  as  he  reaches 
the  state  that  he  cannot  work  at  his  trade  because  of  the  hostility  of  the 
labor  unions.  Having  probably  heard  this  also  before  he  left  the  South, 
after  a  desultory  search  he  gives  up  under  the  impression  that  the  union 
is  the  cause  of  his  inability  to  get  work  at  his  trade.  The  fact,  however, 
is  that  it  is  not  always  the  union  as  much  as  the  increased  competition 
and  higher  standard  of  efficiency  of  the  more  complex  community  into 
which  he  has  come. 

The  leaders  of  the  labor  movement  both  in  Pittsburg  and  in  Philadel- 
phia are  agreed  that  there  is  in  theory  no  hostility  on  the  part  of  the 
union  against  the  Negn).     Must  of  them  see  clearly  what  a  disadvantage 


Some  Results  of  the  Attitude  of  Unions  1  09 

to  the  labor  movement  it  would  be  to  have  Negroes  hostile  to  the  move- 
ment or  the  movement  hostile  to  the  Negroes.  They  complain  that  the 
Negroes  have  been  used  in  many  instances  to  injure  their  cause  and  they 
know  that,  with  increasing  intelligence  and  skill,  Negroes  will  be  more 
capable  of  retarding  the  movement  for  the  uplift  of  labor.  Most  labor 
leaders  have  to  contend  very  largely  with  mediocre  intelligence  and  often 
gross  ignorance  among  white  men;  with  greed  and  selfishness,  with  human 
nature  as  it  is.  They  claim  that  as  the  ordinary  white  man  who  joins  the 
Christian  church  is  not  revolutionized  in  his  idea  about  the  Negro,  so  the 
one  who  joins  the  union  probably  has  undergone  but  little  change  in  re- 
gard to  the  Negro.  They  point  out  also  that  non-union  white  men  are  as 
averse  to  working  with  Negroes  as  union  white  men.  At  any  rate  as 
the  situation  now  is  the  majority  of  Negroes  are  non-union  and  will 
probably  so  remain  until  they  develop  enough  strength  independently  so 
that  they  can  be  of  more  definite  help  or  hindrance  to  the  union  cause. 
By  keeping  Negroes  out  of  the  trades  competition  is  lessened  for  the  men 
in  the  union.  As  long  as  Negroes  wait  to  be  invited  in  by  the  unions 
they  will  remain  outside.  Only  by  succeeding  in  spite  of  the  indifference 
of  the  union  and  even  its  occasional  hostility  can  Negroes  hope  to  be 
recognized. 

The  situation  in  New  York  City  is  discussed  by  both  Miss 
Ovington  and  Dr.  Haynes,  whose  interesting  and  valuable 
works  have  been  referred  to  in  former  pages.  Miss  Ovington 
says:1 

To  the  colored  man  who  has  overcome  race  prejudice  sufficiently  to 
be  taken  into  a  shop  with  white  workmen  the  walking  delegate  who 
appears  and  asks  for  his  union  card  seems  little  short  of  diabolical;  and 
all  the  advantages  that  collective  bargaining  has  secured,  the  higher 
wage  and  shorter  working  day,  are  forgotten  by  .him.  I  have  heard  the 
most  distinguished  of  Negro  educators,  listening  to  such  an  incident  as 
this,  declare  that  he  should  like  to  see  every  labor  union  in  America  de- 
stroyed. But  unionism  has  come  to  stay,  and  the  colored  man  who  is 
asked  for  his  card  had  better  at  once  get  to  work  and  endeavor  to  secure 
it.  Many  have  done  this  already  and  organized  labor  in  New  York,  its 
leaders  tell  us,  receives  an  increasing  number  of  colored  workmen.  Miss 
Helen  Tucker,  in  a  careful  study  of  Negro  craftsmen  in  the  West  Sixties, 
found  among  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  men  who  had  worked  at  their 
trades  in  the  city,  thirty-two,  or  twenty-six  per  cent  in  organized  labor. 
The  majority  of  these  had  joined  in  New  York.  Eight  men  out  of  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty-one  had  applied  for  entrance  to  unions  and 
not  been  admitted.  This  does  not  seem  a  discouraging  number,  tho  we 
do  not  know  whether  the  other  eighty-one  could  have  been  organized  or 


1  Ovington,  M.  W.:  Half  a  Man,  pp.  95- 


0 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


not.  Many  probably  were  not  sufficiently  competent  workmen.  In  1910, 
according  to  the  best  information  that  I  could  secure,  there  were  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-eight  colored  men  in  the  New  York 
unions.  Eighty  of  these  were  in  the  building  trades,  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  were  cigar  makers,  four  hundred  were  teamsters,  three  hundred 
and  fifty  asphalt  workers  and  two  hundred  and  forty  rock  drillers  and 
tool  sharpeners. 

Negroes  in  L'nions— New  York  City 


Occupations 

1906 

320 

300 

250 

121 

90 

90 

60 

45 

30 

26 

15 

10 

10 

6 

3 

3 
1 

1 

1 

1,385 

1910 

350 

400 

Rock  drillers  and  tool  sharpeners 

Cigar  makers 

240 
165 

21 

40 

19 

Double  drum  hoisters 

Safety  and  portable  engineers 

37 

35 

0 

30 

8 

3 

7 

2 

Sheet  metal  workers 

1 

Total 

1,358 

Entrance  to  some  of  the  local  organizations  is  more  easily  secured 
than  to  others,  for  the  trade  union,  while  part  of  a  federation,  is  autono- 
mous or  nearly  so.  In  some  of  the  highly  skilled  trades,  to  which  few 
colored  men  have  the  necessary  ability  to  demand  access,  the  Negro  is 
likely  to  be  refused,  while  the  less  intelligent  and  well  paid  forms  of  labor 
press  a  union  card  upon  him.  Again  strong  organizations  in  the  South, 
as  the  brick-layers,  send  men  North  with  union  membership  who  easily 
transfer  to  New  York  locals.  Miss  Tucker  finds  the  carpenters,  masons 
and  plasterers'  organizations  easy  for  the  Negro  to  enter.  There  is  in 
New  York  a  colored  local,  the  only  colored  local  in  the  city,  among  a  few 
of  the  carpenters  with  regular  representation  in  the  Central  Federated 
Union.  The  American  Federation  of  Labor  in  1881  declared  that  "the 
working  people  must  unite  irrespective  of  creed,  color,  sex,  nationality  or 
politics."  This  cry  is  for  self-protection,  and  where  the  Negroes  have 
numbers  and  ability  in  a  trade  their  organization  becomes  important  to 
the  white,  [t  may  be  fairly  said  of  labor  organization  in  New  York  that 
it  finds  and  is  at  times  unable  to  destroy  race  prejudice,  but  that  it  does 
not  create  it. 

The  following  account  is  gleaned  from  the  circumstances 
in  the  recent  New  York  hotel  situation,  at  which  time  Negroes 


Some  Results  of  the  Attitude  of  Unions  1  1  1 

were  called  in  to  take  the  places  of  striking  white  waiters. 
Tho  not  dealing  primarily  with  Negro  skilled  laborers,  it  is 
illustrative  of  the  relation  existing  between  the  Negro  and 
organized  labor.1 

Now  that  the  strike  is  in  progress,  representatives  of  the  Interna- 
tional Hotel  Workers  hasten  to  say  that  they  are  not  interested  in  the 
betterment  of  conditions  for  the  white  man  alone,  but  that  also  they  want 
to  help  the  colored  man.  This  statement,  coming  just  at  this  time,  is 
received  by  the  colored  waiters  "with  a  grain  of  salt."  The  men  recall 
what  took  place  among  the  colored  molders  of  Chattanooga  some  time 
ago.  The  white  molders  struck  and  colored  men  were  put  at  the  strikers' 
work.  Whereupon  the  white  men  took  the  Negroes  into  their  union. 
Shortly  after  this  the  colored  molders,  one  by  one,  found  that  they  were 
losing  their  jobs  until  all  the  Negroes  had  been  replaced  by  the  original 
strikers.  Soon  after  these  events  a  similar  situation  arose  in  Louisville 
and  the  colored  molders  who  had  lost  their  jobs  in  Chattanooga  were  given 
the  jobs  of  the  striking  molders  in  Louisville.  Immediately,  as  in  Chatta- 
nooga, the  white  men  offered  to  take  the  Negroes  into  their  union,  but 
this  time  the  Negroes  refused  absolutely  to  enter  into  negotiations  with 
them.     The  result  was  that  the  colored  men  kept  those  jobs. 

In  the  present  situation  in  New  York  there  seems  to  have  been  little 
or  no  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  International  Hotel  Workers  to  bring 
the  Negroes  into  this  organization.  To  be  sure  Negroes  are  not  rejected 
by  the  union  and  there  are  possibly  two  hundred  and  fifty  colored  mem- 
bers, but  they  seem  to  have  gained  little  for  themselves  or  their  racial 
group  by  this  membership.  Even  tho  he  is  a  union  member  the  Negro  is 
not  permitted  to  work  with  white  waiters;  he  can  get  a  job  only  where 
all  the  waiters  belong  to  his  own  color  group. 

The  colored  men  who  are  taking  the  white  men's  places  are  being 
paid  the  same  amount,  three  dollars  a  day,  which  the  white  men  had  been 
receiving. 

The  Molders'  International  Union  of  America,  which  has 
made  a  long  fight  for  excluding  Negroes  from  membership,  is 
considering  the  question  of  admitting  them.  In  their  last 
convention  one  speaker  said: 

The  Negro  has  demonstrated  that  he  is  a  capable  mechanic  and  is 
quite  able  to  fill  the  place  of  the  white  laborer.  The  southern  foundry 
managers  are  making  capital  out  of  the  race  prejudice  between  the  white 
and  the  colored  molders  and  if  we  do  not  raise  the  colored  worker  to  our 
standard  he  will  drag  us  down  to  his. 

We  can  hardly  find  language  strong  enough  to  express  our  opinion  of 


'Special  investigation  made  for  the  Conference. 


1  1  2  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

the  feudal  lords  when  we  consider  the  days  when  the  laborer  was  bot  and 
sold  with  the  land.  Our  evolution  from  a  condition  of  slavery  to  the  free- 
dom that  we  now  enjoy  was  slow,  but  we  now  withhold  our  aid  from  the 
Negro,  who  is  trying  to  gain  the  same  freedom. 

How  can  you  get  the  Negro  organized  unless  you  are  willing  to  meet 
with  him?  His  interests  are  identical  with  yours.  Everyone  knows  that 
this  condition  will  have  to  be  met,  yet  some  of  us  want  to  postpone  the 
day  and  let  others  take  the  responsibility.  Do  not  let  your  race  preju- 
dice warp  your  judgment. 

We  find  the  following  observation  in  the  "Negro  Year 
Book,  1912:"1 

Negroes  during  the  year  made  gains  in  the  field  of  organized  labor. 
At  the  1910  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Council  of  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor  a  resolution  was  unanimously  passed  inviting  Negroes  and 
all  other  races  into  the  Labor  Federation.  The  officers  of  the  Federation 
were  instructed  to  take  measures  to  see  that  Negro  workmen  as  well  as 
workmen  of  other  races  were  brot  into  the  unions.  Following  out  this 
policy  steps  were  taken  to  unionize  the  Negro  working  in  the  Pittsburg 
district.  At  New  Orleans  in  October  the  Negro  longshoremen  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  International  Longshoremen's  Union.  T.  V.  O'Connor, 
president  of  the  International  Union,  was  present  and  in  his  address  urged 
fair  play  between  white  and  black  laborers.  He  said:  "We  are  not  going 
to  take  up  social  equality  but  we  can  if  we  achieve  the  proper  organiza- 
tion bring  about  industrial  equality.  To  you  colored  men  I  will  say  that 
the  white  man  is  ready  and  willing  to  assist  you  to  get  the  same  wages 
and  working  conditions  that  he  enjoys,  but  you  must  stand  ready  to  assist 
yourselves." 

The  following  interesting  passages,  illustrative  of  the 
better  attitude  towards  Negro  workers,  are  taken  from  '  'An 
Appeal  to  Timber  and  Lumber  Workers, ' '  by  Jay  Smith,  sec- 
retary Brotherhood  of  Timber  Workers: 

The  constitution  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Timber  Workers  declares  our 
purpose  to  be  the  organization  of  all  wage  workers  employed  in  and 
around  the  timber  and  lumber  industry  into  one  big  union  regardless  of 
creed,  color  or  nationality 

Failing  to  split  the  workers'  forces  on  craft  lines,  the  next  cry  raised 
by  the  bosses  and  their  stool  pigeons  is  the  "Negro question,"  and  so  we 
are  often  asked  how  will  the  Brotherhood  handle  the  Negro  and  the  white 
men  in  the  same  organization.  Answer:  How  do  the  capitalists  or 
employers  handle  them? 

To  the  employer  a  working  man  is  nothing  but  a  profit-producing 
animal  and  he  doesn't  care  a  snap  of  his  finger  what  the  animal's  color 

"Work,  Monroe  N.:   The  Ne^ro  Year  Book,  1912,  pp.  L8-19. 


Some  Results  of  the  Attitude  of  Unions  1  1  3 

is — white,  black,  red,  brown  or  yellow;  native  or  foreign  born,  religious 
or  unreligious — so  long  as  he  (the  worker)  has  strength  enough  to  keep 
the  logs  coming  and  the  lumber  going — that  is  all  the  bosses  want  or  ask. 
It  is  only  when  we  see  the  slaves  uniting,  when  all  other  efforts  to  divide 
the  workers  on  the  job  have  failed,  that  we  hear  a  howl  go  up  as  to  the 
horrors  of  "social  equality."  Not  until  then  do  we  really  know  how 
sacred  to  the  boss  and  his  hirelings  is  the  holy  doctrine  of  "white 
supremacy." 

This  is  always  the  tactics  of  the  bosses:  First,  prevent  the  workers 
from  organizing  any  kind  of  union;  failing  in  this,  split  them  on  craft  lines 
into  as  many  so-called  unions  as  possible,  each  with  a  separate  contract 
expiring  on  a  different  date  with  sympathetic  strikes  strictly  prohibited; 
and,  then,  failing  in  this,  appeal  to  their  race  and  religious  hatred,  for,  if 
the  bosses  can  divide  the  workers,  the  bosses  can  win  every  time;  but  if 
the  bosses  cannot  divide  the  workers  then  the  workers  will  win,  and  win, 
and  win  until  there  are  no  more  bosses.  In  fighting  the  workers  the  age- 
long motto  of  the  bosses  has  been:  "Divide  and  conquer."     .... 

As  far  as  the  "Negro  question"  goes  it  means  simply  this:  Either 
the  whites  organize  with  the  Negroes  or  the  bosses  will  organize  the  Ne- 
groes against  the  whites,  in  which  last  case  it  is  hardly  up  to  the  whites 
to  damn  the  "niggers."     .... 

As  to  the  "race  question":  Once  upon  a  time  a  butcher  threw  a 
bone  out  in  the  alley;  a  white  dog  and  a  black  dog  made  a  rush  for  it, 
reached  it  at  the  same  time  and  started  a  fight  for  its  possession.  While 
they  were  making  fools  of  themselves  a  big,  lazy  red  dog  sneaked  up, 
grabbed  the  bone  and  lit  out  with  it.  The  white  dog  was  a  "white 
supremacy"  sucker,  the  black  dog  was  a  "social  equality"  sucker  and 
the  red  dog  that  got  the  bone  was  one  of  those  gentlemen  who  in  one 
breath  call  the  timber  and  lumber  workers  "pals"  and  "freemen"  and 
in  the  next  threaten  to  shut  down  the  mills  and  starve  the  workers  to 
death  if  they  dare  to  think  and  act  for  themselves— in  other  words,  a 
capitalist,  a  boss. 

An  officer  of  the  Free  Federation  of  Workingmen  of  Porto 
Rico,  a  union  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
who  visited  America  recently  as  a  delegate  to  the  convention 
of  the  Federation,  makes  an  interesting  reply  to  the  Con- 
ference: 

.  .  .  .  I  must  say  emphatically  that  there  is  not  such  a  struggle 
of  color  distinction  in  our  country.  We  have,  of  course,  the  universal 
distinction  of  classes. 

Here  a  person  is  worth  nothing  in  the  commercial,  industrial  or  pro- 
fessional life  if  he  has  not  sufficient  intelligence  and  money.     Money  and 


1  1  4  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

intelligence,  without  regard  to  the  color,  are  the  real  forces  moving  the 
whole  mechanism  of  our  society,  may  a  man  be  white  or  colored,  red  or 
yellow 

The  working  shop,  the  university,  the  theater,  the  library,  the  social 
hall  and  every  institution  that  promotes  the  welfare  of  mankind  and  the 
happiness  of  the  spirit,  are  here  opened  to  all  men  in  accordance  with 
their  financial  positions. 

Our  labor  movement  has  more  ideal  than  material  basis.  The  organi- 
zations in  America  are  fighting  for  greater  salary,  less  hours  and  sanitary 
conditions;  the  Latin  worker  follows  the  brilliant  ideal  of  founding  socie- 
ties and  nations  upon  the  rock  of  fraternity  and  absolute  harmony  to  secure 
the  real  emancipation,  may  it  be  social,  economical  or  political.  Our 
struggles  are  noticed  by  two  opposing  bands:  those  who  are  rich  and  well 
fed  and  those  who  are  poor  and  misfortunate;  those  who  oppress  and  those 
who  are  oppressed. 

The  distinction  of  races,  the  social  and  political  differences  are  doing 
nothing  but  dividing  mankind  into  opposite  groups  to  bring  forth  the 
Universal  War.  The  only  place  in  the  world  where  a  man  is  superior  to 
another  on  account  of  skin,  is  the  United  States  of  America.  No  other 
country  has  such  an  inferior  war,  such  an  unchristian  fight,  tho  it  is  true 
that  the  Americans  have  a  deep  love  for  liberty,  that  they  have  admira- 
ble institutions,  a  great  commercial  development  and  a  monument  of 
rights  unsurpassed  in  the  world,  i.  e.,  the  constitution  that  declares  that 
all  men  are  equal,  that  they  possess  certain  inalienable  rights  to  work 
and  promote  their  welfare,  but  this  constitution  and  all  the  free  institu- 
tions of  the  American  people  and  the  splendorous  sun  of  their  liberty  is 
totally  eclipsed  by  the  barbarous  struggle  of  races  with  the  inhuman 
division  of  the  white  and  the  black. 

"America,  the  cradle  of  liberty,  is  being  the  theater  of  the  most  bar- 
barous and  atrocious  war."  This  is  what  they  say  in  Europe  among  the 
Latin  and  Saxon  races  of  that  old  continent.  It  is  what  they  say  in  J  apan, 
even  in  China,  in  India  and  in  Northern  Africa,  where,  as  you  know,  the 
first  civilization  was  born 

I  certainly  regret  that  I  have  had  to  extend  these  remarks,  but  I  was 
compelled  to  do  it  because  your  letter  shows  that  you  have  the  idea  that 
in  Porto  Rico  exists  the  same  hateful  distinction  of  races.  I  wanted  to 
give  you  the  right  idea.  We  have  struggles  between  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  between  capital  and  labor. 

Hoping  that  this  information  may  give  you  some  light  and  help  in  the 
work  initiated  by  Atlanta  University,  and  hoping  also  that  the  division 
of  races  in  some  of  the  southern  states  may  soon  cease,  I  beg  to 
remain,  Yours  in  humanity, 


The  Training  of  Negro  American  Artisans  1  1  5 

Section  33.     The  Training  of  Negro  American  Artisans 

The  success  of  the  man  who  labors  with  his  hands,  even  as 
the  success  of  any  other  worker,  depends  in  no  small  degree 
upon  his  training  and  his  capability  for  the  work  to  be  per- 
formed. The  question  of  fitness  is  the  determining  factor 
under  a  truly  competitive  economic  system  and  in  the  long 
run  all  other  superficial  barriers  must  pale  into  insignificance: 
This  will  be  more  and  more  apparent  in  the  case  of  the  Negro 
worker  as  the  superficial  barriers  of  race  and  color  are  done 
away  with  and  he  is  allowed  to  enter  unhampered  into  the 
fair  field  of  economic  competition. 

In  a  social  study  of  the  Negro  American  artisan  the  ques- 
tion of  the  training  of  these  workers  is  of  vital  importance. 
The  Negro  artisans  studied  were  asked:  How  did  you  learn 
your  trade?  The  answers  to  this  question  fall  into  three 
heads:  (1)  By  apprenticeship  (41  per  cent.) ;  (2)  Picked  up 
trade  (37  per  cent. ) ;  (3)  Attended  trade  school  (21  per 
cent).1  Many  of  the  best  and  most  successful  of  the  Negro 
artisans  are  among  those  who  come  under  the  first  two 
classes,  those  who  learned  their  trades  under  the  system  of 
apprenticeship  and  those  who  "picked  up"  their  trades. 
Numerous  evidences  of  this  fact  may  be  seen  both  in  ante- 
bellum days  and  during  the  years  that  have  passed  since 
emancipation. 

Recent  years  have  witnessed  a  marked  increase  of  interest 
in  industrial  school  training  for  Negroes.  Most  of  the  higher 
institutions  of  learning  as  well  as  the  secondary  schools  for 
Negroes  have  included  industrial  courses  in  their  curricula. 
The  following  tables,  compiled  from  the  Report  of  the  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1911,  give  statistics 
for  those  secondary  and  higher  schools  for  the  Negro  race 
that  had  students  enrolled  in  the  industries: 


'These  percentage  figures  apply  to  the  artisans  making  reply  to  the  Conference  question- 
naire and  not  to  all  the  Negro  American  artisans.  Taking  all  Negro  artisans  the  percentage 
figures  for  the  first  two  classes  would  be  larger.  The  third  class  would  show  a  smaller  per- 
centage. 


116 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


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The  Training  of  Negro  American  Artisans 


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120  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

The  industrial  courses  offered  in  these  schools  are  as 
follows: 

Number  of 
Industry  Schools  Offering 

Carpentry 35 

Dressmaking  and  Sewing 30 

Blacksmithing  and  Forging 24 

Printing 23 

Cooking 23 

Mechanical  Drawing          18 

Tailoring 14 

Millinery 14 

Painting 13 

Shoe  and  Harness  Repairing 12 

Wheelwrighting 12 

Bricklaying     12 

Plastering 12 

Laundering  .        10 

Sheet  Metal  and  Machine  Shop  Work 7 

Electrical  Engineering .  6 

Plumbing 5 

Upholstery 4 

Brickmaking 4 

Steam  Engineering 3 

Basketry 3 

Broom  Making 2 

Tinsmithing 2 

Mattress  Making      2 

Mechanical  Engineering 2 

How  far  are  these  courses  preparing  and  how  far  are  they 
designed  to  prepare  Negro  youth  for  the  organized  industry  of 
the  South?  During  the  twenty  years  from  1880  to  1900  there 
was  in  the  South  a  relative  decrease  in  the  importance  of 
agricultural  and  personal  service  and  a  large  increase  in  trade 
and  transportation,  manufacturing  and  professions.  The 
theory  of  the  industrial  training  of  Negro  youth  is  that 
Negroes  should  be  trained  to  take  skilled  and  intelligent  part 
in  this  development  of  trade  and  transportation  and  manu- 
facturing.    How  far  is  this  true  in  application? 

If  we  carefully  scan  the  list  of  industries  taught  we  may 
divide  them  into: 

(1)  Repair  work  and  tinkering. 

(2)  House  work. 

(3)  Trades  and  industries. 

In  nearly  all  cases  the  following  courses  are  training  simply 
in  repair  work  and  tinkering: 

Carpentry.  Sheet  metal  and  machine  shop  work. 

Blacksmithing  and  forging.  Plumbing. 

Tailoring.  Upholstering. 

Shoe  and  harness  repairing.  Tinsmithing. 

Wheelwrighting.  Mattress  making. 


The  Training  of  Negro  American  Artisans  1  2  1 

Modern  wood-working  involves  elaborate  machinery  and 
training  in  machine  methods.  In  nearly  all  these  schools 
"carpentry"  is  confined  to  hand  tools  and  bench  work. 
Blacksmithing  and  forging  are  taught  by  the  simplest  tools 
and  not  by  modern  power  methods.  Tailoring  is  not  taught 
as  modern  garment  making  but  as  individual  cutting  and 
mending.  Shoe  repairing  is  taught  but  there  is  but  little  or 
no  use  made  of  shoe  making  machinery  which  is  universally 
in  vogue.  Wheels  and  wagons  are  made  chiefly  by  hand  and 
at  a  cost  which  would  make  competition  with  machine  made 
wagons  impossible.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  most  of  the 
other  industries.  Negro  youth  are  being  taught  the  technique 
of  a  rapidly  disappearing  age  of  hand  work.  The  training 
has  undoubtedly  good  physical  and  mental  results  but  if  used 
as  a  means  of  livelihood  it  will  command  the  poor  and 
decreasing  wages  of  tinkers  and  repairers;  and  those  who 
follow  these  methods  will  be  completely  shut  out  of  modern 
machine  industry. 

Happily  there  are  some  exceptions  to  this  general  rule. 
At  Hampton,  Tuskegee,  Wilberforce  and  a  few  other  schools 
machine  industry  along  modern  lines  is  being  taught  in  some 
branches  of  wood- working  and  metal-working.  For  the  most 
part,  however,  the  courses  offered  in  this  division  are  not 
modern  or  remunerative. 

The  next  group  comprises,  the  house  industries, —dress- 
making, sewing,  cooking  and  laundering.  Here  we  see  little 
of  settled  idea  or  aim.  These  subjects  might  be  taught  with 
the  idea  of  training  the  mistresses  of  small  homes,  or  with 
the  idea  of  training  servants  in  rich  homes,  or  with  the  idea 
of  making  professional  cooks  and  dress  makers.  These  three 
aims  call  for  widely  different  courses  of  study.  Usually, 
however,  a  single  course  is  laid  down,  the  aim  of  training 
servants  is  widely  advertised  and  the  net  result  is  dubious. 

The  third  set  of  industries  taught  comprises  the  following: 
Printing,  mechanical  drawing,  millinery,  painting,  bricklay- 
ing, plastering,  brickmaking,  mechanical  engineering,  both 
steam  and  electric,  basketry  and  broommaking. 


1  22  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

In  the  case  of  printing,  brickmaking  and  broommaking 
there  is  the  same  difficulty  as  in  the  first  group,  save  that 
here  hand  work  is  still  in  fair  demand.  The  linotype  and  the 
monotype  have  not  as  yet  displaced  the  hand  typesetter,  and 
brickmaking  and  broommaking  by  hand  are  still  able  to  com- 
pete with  machines.  Nevertheless  a  proper  training  in  the 
industries  cannot  long  omit  machine  teaching.  In  the  case 
of  bricklaying  hand  work  seems  secure.  Still,  re-inforced 
cement  work  should  receive  attention.  In  drawing,  painting 
and  basketry  industry  touches  upon  the  work  of  the  artist 
and  in  this  field  these  schools  need  strengthening.  The 
Negro  is  humanly  the  artist  and  yet  little  is  being  done  to 
develop  his  sensitive  perceptions. 

The  engineering  courses  are  nearly  all  misnamed,  being 
much  too  short  and  elementary  to  deserve  the  larger  desig- 
nation. 

To  sum  up:  The  industrial  school  is  facing  an  age  of 
machinery.  The  teaching  of  mere  hand  work,  save  in  limited 
amounts  and  for  educative  purposes,  is  not  training  for 
modern  industry.  The  machine  equipment  for  the  larger 
teaching  is  expensive;  but  how,  for  example,  can  modern 
printing  be  taught  without  the  linotype  and  the  cylinder 
press,  and  how  can  modern  shoemaking  be  taught  without 
shoemaking  machines?  These  are  the  difficult  problems 
facing  Negro  industrial  schools. 

The  whole  plan  of  study  in  these  schools  needs  overhaul- 
ing. Simply  to  accept  the  fact  that  schools  should  train  for 
practical  vocations  and  then  put  in  any  industries  taught  any 
way  is  not  enough.  Modern  plants  are  necessary  for  the 
teaching  of  modern  industry  and  intelligent  common  school 
training  must  precede  it.  It  is  possible  that  the  different 
schools  could  specialize.  One  might  give  instruction  in 
mechanical  engineering  and  have  a  complete  and  modern 
machine  shop;  another  could  have  woodworking  with  the 
complete  and  modern  machinery  necessary  for  the  same. 
Certainly  the  present  incomplete  makeshifts  cannot  long 
survive. 


The  Training  of  Negro  American  Artisans  123 

The  soundness  of  this  criticism  is  shown  by  the  results  of 
industrial  teaching.  Hampton  has  given  four  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  trade  certificates.  Of  these  one  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  are  following  their  trades,  thirty-eight  are  still 
studying,  and  sixty-three  are  teaching  their  trades.  It  would 
seem  then  that  economic  industrial  demand  was  at  present 
sufficient  to  absorb  between  thirty-six  per  cent  and  forty- 
nine  1  per  cent  of  those  trained  at  the  best  Negro  trade 
school. 

A  recent  publication  from  Tuskegee  Institute,  Tuskegee, 
Alabama,  makes  the  following  observation: 

Almost  two-thirds  of  its  1,508  graduates  and  three-fourths  of  its 
12,000  former  students  are  directly  or  indirectly  engaged  in  some  form 

of   industrial  work Three    hundred    and    seventy-four 

persons,  173  graduates  and  201  former  students  have  been  considered. 
They  were  distributed  in  the  trades  as  follows:  2  bakers,  33  blacksmiths 
and  wheelwrights,  5  bookkeepers,  56  brickmasons,  1  cabinetmaker,  42 
carpenters,  2  carriage  makers,  1  chauffeur,  1  cook,  1  cooking  demon- 
strator, 1  cotton  classer,  5  in  domestic  service,  31  dressmakers,  3  sta- 
tionary engineers,  8  electricians,  1  elevator  operator,  4  firemen,  9  har- 
nessmakers,  1  hostler,  5  janitors,  1  laundress,  3  laundrymen,  9  machinists, 
10  miners,  3  molders,  42  trained  nurses,  11  painters,  6  plumbers,  10 
printers,  3  sawmill  workers,  19  shoemakers,  26  tailors,  8  tinsmiths,  and 

2  woodturners One   hundred    and    two    graduates    and 

former  students  are  carrying  on  business  in  connection  with  trades.  Five 
are  architects,  one  is  in  the  bakery  business,  eighteen  are  conducting 
blacksmithing  and  wheelwrighting  businesses,  eighteen  are  in  the  con- 
tracting and  building  business,  one  is  in  the  electrical  business,  one  in 
the  florist  business,  eleven  are  milliners,  five  are  in  the  printing  business, 
eight  in  the  shoemaking  business,  and  two  are  in  the  tinsmithing  business.2 

An  examination  of  the  catalogs  of  other  industrial 
schools  reveals  the  following  facts  concerning  the  number  of 
graduates  and  those  of  them  at  present  following  trades: :j 


1  According  as  one  does  not  or  does  count  those  teaching  trades  as  following  their  trades. 
There  is  argument  on  both  sides. 

-  Work,  Monroe  N.  Industrial  Work  of  Tuskegee  Graduates  and  Former  Students.  Pages 
5,  25,  2x. 

'■'  These  tables  are  not  exhaustive.  However,  the  figures  of  present  occupations  are  taken 
from  the  replies  of  the  schools  to  theTkmference  questionnaire  or  compiled  from  the  lists  of 
graduates  contained  in  the  catalogs. 


124 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


Alabama 

Talladega  College 

Total  graduates 400 

Carpenters 5 

Masons 1 

Engineers 1 

Dressmakers 1 

Burrell  Normal  School 

Total  graduates — 

Dressmakers 1 

Tailors  (app) 1 

Lincoln  Normal  School 

Total  graduates — 

Blacksmiths 1 

Painters 4 

Masons 6 

Plasterers     6 

Dressmakers 8 

Tailors 3 

Payne  University 

Total  graduates 152 

Seamstresses 1 

Blacksmiths 1 

Florida 

Pensacola  Normal  and 
Industrial  School 

Total  graduates .  — 

Carpenters 1 

Dressmakers 2 

robt.  hungerford  normal 
and  Industrial  School 

Total  graduates — 

Carpenters 3 

Blacksmiths 2 

Dressmakers 4 

Printers 2 

The  Florida  A.  &  M.  College 

Total  graduates 154 

Dressmakers 1 

Carpenters 3 

Masons 1 

Tailors 3 

Printers 1 

Georgia 

Atlanta  University 

Total  graduates 678 

Dressmakers 6 

Morris  Brown  College 

Total  graduates 349 

Dressmakers 5 

Tailors 1 

Ft.  Valley  High  and 
Industrial  School 
Total  graduates 50 

Dressmakers 3 

Machinists 1 

Masons ;{ 

Carpenters                                    .2 
SPBLMAN  Seminary 
Total  graduates 416 

I  licsMiial.crs  31 

Milliners 1 


Ballard  Normal  School 

Total  graduates 22  r 

Carpenters 1 

Tailors 1 

Dressmakers 2 

Atlanta  Baptist  College 

Total  graduates 355 

Carpenters 1 

Seldon  Institute 

Total  graduates — 

Carpenters 4 

Painters 3 

Masons 7 

Plasterers     5 

Dressmakers 14 

Coopers 2 

Tailors 6 

Allen  Normal  and 
Industrial  School 

Total  graduates 55 

Dressmakers 2 

Shoemakers 1 

Sandersville  Industrial  School 

Total  graduates — 

Carpenters 4 

Engineers 4 

Painters 4 

Blacksmiths 3 

Shoemakers     2 

Plasterers     6 

Masons 10 

Dressmakers 12 

Tailors 2 


Kansas 

Western  University  and 

State  Industrial  Dept 
Total  graduates 

Shirtmakers 

Dressmakers 

Tailors    .    .    . 

Carpenters    . 


Louisiana 

Straight  University 

Total  graduates 

Dressmakers 1 

Contractors      1 

Carpenters 1 

Sabine  Normal  and 

Industrial  Institute 

Total  graduates 

Carpenters 15 

Masons 3 

Firemen 1 

Dressmakers    ...  14 

Blacksmiths 2 

Shoemakers 5 

Iron  and  Steel  Workers 1 

Brickmasons 3 

Painters 4 

Plasterers 3 

Tailors 4 


The  Training  of  Negro  American  Artisans 


125 


Mississippi 

Lincoln  School 

Total  graduates 

Carpenters   9 

Dressmakers 12 

Painters 8 

Plasterers 2 

Alcorn  A.  &  M.  College 

Total  graduates 469 

Carpenters 4 

Shoemakers 3 

Cabinet  Makers 1 

Mechanics 2 

Painters 1 

Tailors 1 

Meridian  Academy 

Total  graduates 187 

Dressmakers 1 

Milliners 1 

Mechanics 1 

Campbell  College 

Total  graduates 48 

Dressmakers 7 


A.  &  M.  College 

Total  graduates 

Mechanics 3 

Engineers 1 

Tinners 1 

Carpenters 1 

Contractors 1 

Biddle  University 

Total  graduates  .       

Mechanics 1 

Printers 1 

Roanoke  Collegiate  Institute 

Total  graduates 

Painters 1 


152 


1,075 


Henderson  Normal  Institute 

Total  graduates 

Carpenters 2 

Ohio 

WlLBERFORCE  UNIVERSITY 

Total  graduates 

Engineers 

Milliners 

Dressmakers 

Carpenters   

Brickmasons 


706 


North  Carolina 

Waters  Normal  and 
Industrial  Institute 

Total  graduates — 

Dressmakers 3 

St.  Augustine's  School 

Total  graduates 235 

Carpenters 1 

Dressmakers 4 

Masons 5 


State  Colored  Normal  School 

Total  graduates 208 

Carpenters 11 

Masons 7 

Shoemakers 3 

Blacksmiths 4 

Firemen 1 

Painters 2 

Tailors 2 

Brickmakers 2 

Dressmakers 8 

Plasterers 4 

Kittrell  College 

Total  graduates 227 

Mechanics 1 

Seamstresses 1 

Printers 1 

J.  K.  Brick  Agricultural,  Indus- 
trial and  Normal  School 

Total  graduates — 

Painters 1 

Carpenters 2 

Blacksmiths 2 

Dressmakers       2 


South  Carolina 

Bettis  Academy 

Total  graduates 

Carpenters 12 

Engineers 3 

Dressmakers 37 

Blacksmiths 10 

Firemen .    .    1 

Shoemakers 3 

Tailors 4 

Masons       25 

Painters 8 

Plasterers 13 

Harbison  College 

Total  graduates 

Carpenters 4 

Blacksmiths 2 

Masons 2 

Shoemakers 1 

Dressmakers 18 

Friendship  College 

Total  graduates 

Carpenters 4 

Painters 2 

Masons 1 

Plasterers 1 

Dressmakers 4 

Tailors 1 

Avery  Institute 

Total  graduates 

Carpenters 6 

Tailors 7 

Cabinet  Makers 1 

Dressmakers 28 

Ship  Carpenters 1 

Machinists 1 

Patternmakers 1 

Electricians 1 


126 


The  Negro  American  Artisan 


Benedict  College 

Total  graduates 587 

Printers 1 

Carpenters 2 

Colored  Normal,  Industrial, 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College 

Total  graduates 527 

Tailors 2 

Masons 7 

Blacksmiths 1 


Tennessee 

Lane  College 

Total  graduates — 

Carpenters 3 

Blacksmiths 1 

Dressmakers 2 

Iron  and  Steel  Workers 2 

Knoxville  College 

Total  graduates 417 

Carpenters 4 

Masons 5 

Dressmakers ...  8 

Plasterers 1 

Blacksmiths 6 

Engineers 4 

Iron  and  Steel  Workers 4 

Tailors 1 

Brickmakers 1 

Firemen 1 

Shoemakers 1 

Printers 2 

Fisk  University 

Total  graduates 795 

Tailors 1 

Painters 1 

Masons 1 

Dressmakers 5 


Texas 

Prairie  View  State 

Normal  and  Industrial 
College 

Total  graduates 762 

Contractors  and  Builders 1 

Mechanics 1 

Tailors 1 

Paul  Quinn  College 

Total  graduates 158 

Printers 1 


Guadalupe  College 

Total  graduates 

Mechanics 1 

Wiley  University 

Total  graduates 

Painters 3 

Plumbers 1 

Dressmakers 36 

Carpenters 4 

Brickmakers 6 

Masons 6 

Engineers 3 

Firemen 3 

Plasterers 2 

Bishop  College 

Total  graduates 

Tailors 1 

Printers 2 

Virginia 

Christiansburg  Industrial 
Institute 

Total  graduates 

Carpenters 3 

Painters 3 

Masons 1 

Dressmakers 1 

Virginia  Normal  and 
Industrial  Institute 

Total  graduates 

Printers 1 

Blacksmiths 1 

Dressmakers 3 

Carpenters 2 

Tailors 1 

Milliners 1 

West  Virginia 

Storer  College 

Total  graduates 

Dressmakers 6 

Carpenters 3 

Masons 1 

Mechanics 2 

West  Virginia 

Colored  Institute 

Total  graduates 

Carpenters 7 

Engineers 1 

Blacksmiths 6 

Dressmakers 8 

Masons 4 

Painters 7 

Tailors 1 

Iron  and  Steel  Workers 1 


130 


143 


275 


67 


439 


274 


The  following  table  showing  the  number  of  Negro  pupils 
receiving  industrial  training  in  the  school  year  1910-11  is 
taken  from  the  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Education: 


The  Training  of  Negro  American  Artisans 
Negro  Pupils  Receiving  Industrial  Training,  1910=11 


127 


STATES 


Alabama 

Arkansas 

Delaware 

District  of  Columbia. 

Florida 

Georgia 

Indiana 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maryland 

Mississippi 

Missouri     ...... 

New  Jersey 

North  Carolina    .    .    . 

Ohio 

Oklahoma      

South  Carolina    .    . 

Tennessee     

Texas  

Virginia 

West  Virginia     .    .    . 


Total 


Male 


2,252 
322 
156 
287 
427 

1,327 

35 

223 

1,386 
132 

1,245 

210 

53 

1,560 
57 
42 

1,314 
851 
730 

1,524 
233 


14,366 


Female 


3,129 

616 
60 

261 

608 

2,531 

20 

316 
1,948 

210 
1,222 

268 

89 

2,457 

144 
18 
1,933 
1,223 
1,637 
2,137 

209 


21,036 


Total 


5,381 

938 

216 

548 

1,035 

3,858 

55 

539 

3,334 

342 

2,467 

478 

142 

4,017 

201 

60 

3,247 

2,074 

2,367 

3,661 

442 


35,402 


*  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  Report  of  1911. 

It  would  seem  fair  to  conclude  that  from  half  to  two-thirds 
of  the  Negroes  trained  in  industrial  schools  do  not  follow 
their  trades.  This  may  be  on  account  of  other  offers  made 
to  them,  such  as  teaching  in  rural  schools.  However,  con- 
sidering the  poor  pay  in  such  competing  occupations  and  the 
rising  wages  of  and  growing  demand  for  skilled  artisans,  one 
cannot  help  reaching  the  conclusion  that  the  Negro  industrial 
schools  are  not  yet  meeting  the  demands  of  modern  industry. 


Section  34.     The  Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American 

What  are  the  questions  in  the  present  problem  of  the 
economic  status  of  the  Negro  American?  They  may  be 
summed  up  in  four  groups: 

1.  The  relation  of  the  Negro  to  city  and  country. 

2.  The  relation  of  the  Negro  to  group  and  national  economy. 

3.  The  influence  of  race  prejudice. 

4.  The  question  of  efficiency. 

City  and  Country 

A  fact  of  great  importance  in  regard  to  the  economic  con- 
ditions of  the  Negro  American  is  his  cityward  movement. 
According   to   the  Thirteenth   Census  2,689,229  or  27.3  per 


128  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

cent  of  the  Negroes  in  the  United  States  lived  in  urban  cen- 
ters in  1910,  a  decided  increase  over  1900.  The  cityward 
movement  of  the  Negro  is  explained  by: x 

1.  The  divorce  of  the  Negro  from  the  soil. 

2.  The  trend  of  the  Negro  to  industrial  and  commercial  centers. 

3.  Secondary  or  individual  causes: 

(a)  Attractiveness  of  urban  centers. 

(b)  Labor  legislation. 

(c)  Desire  for  economic  improvement. 

(d)  Family  relationships. 

(e)  Desire  to  escape  from  restrictive  and  oppressive  legislation 
and  social  customs. 

This  means  an  intensifying  of  the  urban  economic  prob- 
lem. This  group  of  2,689,229  town  Negroes  presents  pre- 
eminently all  of  the  economic  problems  outside  of  those  con- 
nected with  land  holding  and  agriculture. 

Moreover,  the  city  Negroes  include  more  than  a  third  of 
the  intelligent  Negroes  of  the  United  States  and  have  a  rate 
of  illiteracy  of  probably  less  than  25  per  cent.  Unquestion- 
ably it  is  in  the  city  that  the  more  intricate  problems  of 
economic  life  and  race  contact  are  going  to  be  fought  out. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  very  presence  of  seven  million  Ne- 
groes in  the  country  districts  makes  the  economic  problem 
there,  tho  simple  in  quality,  of  tremendous  proportions  in 
quantity  and  of  added  significance  when  we  see  how  the 
country  is  feeding  the  city  problems. 

Group  Economy  and  National  Economy 

Present  conditions  show  that  while  the  force  of  compe- 
tition from  without  is  of  tremendous  economic  importance  in 
the  economic  development  of  the  Negro  American  it  is  by  no 
means  final.  In  an  isolated  country  the  industry  of  the 
inhabitants  can  be  supported  and  developed  by  means  of  a 
protecting  tariff  until  the  country  is  able  to  enter  into  inter- 
national trade  with  fully  developed  resources;  that  a  similar 
thing  can  be  accomplisht  in  a  group  not  wholly  isolated  but 
living  scattered  among  more  numerous  and  richer  neighbors 
is  often  forgotten.     There  is  therefore  a  double  question  in 


1  See  Haynes,  G.  E.     The  Negro  at  Work  in  New  York  City,  pp.  l.i-1 1. 


The  Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American  1  29 

regard  to  the  Negro's  economic  advance.  The  first  question 
is:  How  far  is  the  Negro  likely  to  gain  a  foothold  as  one  of 
the  economic  factors  in  the  nation's  industrial  organization? 
The  second  is:  How  far  can  the  Negro  develop  a  group 
economy  which  will  so  break  the  force  of  race  prejudice  that 
his  right  and  ability  to  enter  the  national  economy  are 
assured? 

Race  Prejudice 

Race  prejudice,  more  than  any  other  single  factor,  retards 
the  Negroes'  development  in  the  economic  world.  Outside 
of  all  question  of  ability  an  American  of  Negro  descent  will 
find  more  or  less  concerted  effort  on  the  part  of  his  white 
neighbors: 

(1)  To  keep  him  from  all  positions  of  authority. 

(2)  To  prevent  his  promotion  to  higher  grades. 

(3)  To  exclude  him  entirely  from  certain  lines  of  industry. 

(4)  To  prevent  him  from  competing  upon  equal  terms  with  white 
workingmen. 

(5)  To  prevent  his  buying  land. 

(6)  To  prevent  his  defence  of  his  economic  rights  and  status  by  the 
ballot. 

Efforts  in  these  directions  have  been  prest  with  varying 
degrees  of  emphasis  and  have  had  varying  degrees  of  success. 
Yet  they  must  all  be  taken  into  account  in  any  economic  study 
of  the  Negro  American.  Strikes  have  repeatedly  occurred 
against  Negro  firemen,  of  whose  ability  there  was  no  com- 
plaint. The  white  office  boy,  errand  boy,  section  hand,  loco- 
motive fireman  all  have  before  them  the  chance  to  become 
clerk  or  manager  or  to  rise  in  railway  service.  The  Negro 
has  few  such  openings.  Fully  half  of  the  trade  unions  in  the 
United  States,  counted  by  numerical  strength,  exclude 
Negroes  from  membership  and  thus  usually  prevent  them 
from  working  at  the  trade.  Another  fourth  of  the  unions 
while  admitting  a  few  black  men  here  and  there  practically 
exclude  most  of  them.  In  only  a  few  unions,  mostly  un- 
skilled, is  the  Negro  welcomed,  as  in  the  case  of  the  miners. 
In  a  few  others  the  economic  foothold  of  the  Negro  has  been 
good   enough   to   prevent   his  expulsion,  as  in  some  of  the 


1  30  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

building  trades.  Agitation  to  prevent  the  selling  of  land  to 
Negroes  has  for  a  long  time  been  evident  over  large  districts 
of  the  South  and  is  still  spreading.  In  an  Atlanta  campaign 
in  the  not  far  distant  past  the  most  telling  cartoon  for  the 
influence  of  white  voters  was  one  which  represented  the 
house  of  a  particular  candidate  in  process  of  erection  by  black 
men.  The  black  vote  was  of  course  disfranchised  in  this 
contest,  as  it  is  in  a  large  part  of  the  South. 

Negro  Efficiency 

The  last  element  in  the  economic  condition  of  the  Negro 
is  the  great  question  of  efficiency.  How  efficient  a  laborer  is 
the  Negro  and  how  efficient  can  he  become  with  intelligent 
technical  training  and  encouragement?  That  the  average 
Negro  laborer  today  is  less  efficient  than  the  average  Euro- 
pean laborer  is  certain.  When,  however,  you  take  into 
account  the  Negro's  past  industrial  training,  his  present 
ignorance,  and  the  social  atmosphere  in  which  he  works  it  is 
not  exactly  fair  to  condemn  him  nor  is  it  easy  to  say  offhand 
what  is  his  possible  worth.  Certainly  increasing  intelligence 
has  made  him  increasingly  discontented  with  his  conditions 
of  work;  the  determined  withdrawing  of  responsibility  from 
the  Negro  has  not  increased  his  sense  of  responsibility;  the 
systematic  exploitation  of  black  labor  has  decreased  its 
steadiness  and  reliability.  Notwithstanding  all  this  there 
never  were  before  in  the  world's  history  so  many  black  men 
steadily  engaged  in  common  and  skilled  labor  as  in  the  case 
of  the  American  Negro.  Nor  is  there  today  a  laboring  force 
which  seems  capable,  under  judicious  guidance,  of  more 
remarkable  development. 

Economic  Groups 

The  Negroes  of  America  may  be  divided  into  three  dis- 
tinct economic  groups: 

(1)  The  independents — farmers,  teachers,  clergymen,  merchants  and 
professional  men  and  women. 

(2)  The  struggling  artisans,  industrial  helpers,  servants  and  farm 
tenants. 

(3)  The  common  laborers. 


The  Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American  1  3  I 

The  Independents 

The  independents  number  possibly  300,000  Negroes  and 
include  225,000  farmers,  25,000  teachers,  17,000  clergymen, 
15,000  merchants  and  numbers  of  professional  men  and 
women  of  various  sorts.  They  are  separated  sharply  into  a 
rural  group  of  farmers  and  an  urban  group  and  are  charac- 
terized by  the  fact  that  with  few  exceptions  they  live  by  an 
economic  service  done  their  own  people.  This  is  least  true 
in  regard  to  the  farmers  but  even  in  their  case  it  is  approxi- 
mately true,  for  they,  to  an  increasingly  large  degree,  raise 
their  own  supplies  and  use  their  produce  as  a  surplus  crop. 
Usually  thru  this  alone  do  they  come  into  national  economy. 
This  group  is  the  one  that  feels  the  force  of  outward  compe- 
tition and  prejudice  least  in  its  economic  life  and  most  in  its 
spiritual  life.  It  is  the  head  and  front  of  the  group  economy 
movement,  comprehends  the  spiritual  as  well  as  the  economic 
leaders  and  is  bound  in  the  future  to  have  a  large  and  impor- 
tant development,  limited  only  by  the  ability  of  the  race  to 
support  it.  However,  in  some  respects  this  group  is  truly 
vulnerable.  Many  of  the  teachers,  for  instance,  depend  upon 
educational  boards  elected  by  white  voters  and  many  depend 
upon  philanthropy.  There  has  been  concerted  action  in  some 
of  the  rural  districts  of  the  South  to  drive  out  the  best  Negro 
teachers  and  even  in  the  cities  the  way  of  the  independent 
black  teacher  who  dares  think  his  own  thots  is  made  difficult. 
In  many  cases  Negro  teachers  under  the  great  philanthropic 
foundations  are  being  continually  warned  that  their  bread 
and  butter  depend  on  their  agreeing  with  present  public 
opinion  in  regard  to  the  Negro.  There  is  growing  up  how- 
ever, silently,  almost  unnoticed,  a  distinct  Negro  private 
school  system  officered,  taught,  attended  and  supported  by 
Negroes.  Such  private  schools  have  today  at  least  30,000 
pupils  and  are  growing  rapidly— another  example  of  group 
economy  as  produced  by  the  Negro  American. 

If  we  regard  exclusively  the  urban  group  of  these  inde- 
pendents we  find  that  the  best  class  of  this  group  is  fully 
abreast  in  education  and  morality  with  the  great  middle  class 


1  32  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

of  Americans.  They  have  furnisht  notable  names  in  liter- 
ature, business  and  professional  life  and  have  repeatedly  in 
Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  Washington  and 
other  great  urban  centers  proved  their  right  to  be  treated  as 
American  citizens  on  a  plane  of  perfect  equality  with  other 
citizens.  Despite  this  fact  and  despite  the  fact,  too,  that 
this  group  is  numerically  small  and  without  much  inherited 
wealth,  it  has  been  struggling  under  two  overwhelming  bur- 
dens: First,  upon  this  group  has  been  laid  the  duty  and 
responsibility  of  the  care,  guidance  and  reformation  of  the 
great  stream  of  black  rural  immigrants  from  the  South  sim- 
ply because  they  happen  to  be  of  the  same  race.  There  is  no 
claim  or  vestige  of  a  claim  that  this  small  city  group  of  risen 
Negroes  is  responsible  for  the  degradation  of  the  plantation, 
yet  upon  this  small  group  the  great  work  is  placed.  In  the 
case  of  other  immigrants  to  our  urban  centers,  each  race  must 
care  for  its  own  and  be  responsible  for  its  advancement,  but 
the  helpers  are  given  all  aid  and  sympathy  in  their  undertak- 
ings and  their  hands  are  upheld.  In  the  case  of  the  Negro 
however,  every  disability,  every  legal,  social  and  economic  bar 
placed  before  the  new  immigrant  must  be  endured  by  the 
city  group  on  whom  the  immigrants  have  been  dumped. 
And  that  group  must  be  judged  continually  by  the  worst 
class  of  those  very  immigrants  whose  uplift  is  calmly  shifted 
by  the  city  at  large. 

What  is  the  result?  The  talented  tenth  is  submerged 
under  the  wave  of  immigration.  And  this  is  the  second  bur- 
den under  which  the  group  has  labored.  This  has  been  the 
experience  in  many  cities  of  the  North.  In  the  South,  how- 
ever, the  beating  back  of  the  leading  group  has  not  awaited 
the  excuse  of  immigration.  On  the  general  ground  of  impu- 
dence or  indolence  members  of  this  class  of  economic  and 
social  leaders  have  been  repeatedly  driven  out  of  the  smaller 
towns,  while  in  the  larger  cities  every  possible  combination 
and  tool  from  the  Jim  Crow  laws  to  the  secret  society  and  the 
boycott  has  been  made  time  and  time  again  to  curtail  the 
economic   advantages  of  the  members  of  this  class  and  to 


The  Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American  1  33 

make  their  daily  life  so  intolerable  that  they  would  either 
leave  or  sink  to  listless  acquiescence. 

What  then,  in  view  of  these  conditions,  can  this  town 
group  do  in  self  defence?  It  can  organize  the  Negroes  about 
it  into  a  self  supplying  group.  This  organization  is  actually 
going  on.  So  far  has  it  gone  that  in  cities  like  Washington,. 
Richmond  and  Atlanta  a  Negro  family  which  does  not  employ 
a  Negro  physician  is  in  danger  of  social  ostracism;  in  the 
North  this  is  extending  to  grocery  stores  and  similar  busi- 
nesses. Whereas  only  a  few  years  ago  Negroes  transacted 
insurance  business  with  white  companies,  today  more  than 
half  of  that  business  has  passed  to  black  companies. 

There  are  persons  who  see  nothing  but  the  advantages  of 
this  course.  But  it  has  grave  disadvantages,  too.  It  in- 
tensifies prejudice  and  bitterness.  For  example:  White 
insurance  agents  and  collectors  in  the  South,  for  fear  of 
white  opinion,  would  not  take  off  their  hats  when  they 
entered  Negro  homes.  The  black  companies  have  harpt  on 
this,  publisht  it,  called  attention  to  it  and  actually  capitalized 
it  into  cold  cash.  Again,  this  movement  narrows  the  activity 
of  the  best  class  of  Negroes,  withdraws  them  from  much 
helpful  competition  and  contact,  perverts  and  cheapens  their 
ideals — in  fact  provincializes  them  in  thot  and  deed.  Yet  it 
is  today  the  only  path  of  economic  escape  for  the  most  gifted 
class  of  black  men  and  the  development  along  this  line  is 
certain  to  be  enormous. 

Turning  to  the  rural  group  of  this  independent  class  the 
Negro  land  owners  are  to  be  considered.  Here  first  one  runs 
against  one  of  those  traditional  statements  which  pass  for 
truth  because  unchallenged,  namely,  that  it  is  easy  for  the 
southern  Negro  to  buy  land.  The  letter  of  this  statement  is 
true  but  the  spirit  of  it  is  false.  There  are  vast  tracts  of 
land  in  the  South  that  anybody,  black  or  white,  can  buy  for 
little  or  nothing  for  the  simple  reason  that  such  tracts  are 
worth  little  or  nothing.  Eventually  these  lands  will  become 
valuable.  But  they  are  almost  valueless  today.  For  the 
Negro,  land  to  be  of  any  value  must  have  present  value  for 
he  is  too  poor  to  wait.     Moreover  it  must  be 


134  The   Negro  American  Artisan 

1.  Land  which  he  knows  how  to  cultivate. 

2.  Land  accessible  to  a  market. 

3.  Land  so  situated  as  to  afford  the  owner  protection. 

There  are  certain  crops  which  the  Negro  farmer  knows 
how  to  cultivate;  to  these  can  be  added  certain  food  supplies. 
Gradually  intensive  cultivation  can  be  taught  but  this  takes 
a  long  time.  It  is  idle  to  compare  the  South  with  Belgium  or 
France  for  the  agricultural  economy  of  those  lands  is  the 
result  of  centuries  of  training  aided  by  a  rising  market  and 
by  law  and  order,  while  the  present  agricultural  economy  of 
the  South  is  but  a  generation  removed  from  the  land  murder 
of  a  slave  regime.  No  graduate  of  that  school  knows  how  to 
make  the  desert  blossom  as  the  rose  and  the  process  of  teach- 
ing must  be  long  and  tedious.  Meantime  he  must  live  on 
such  crops  as  he  knows  how  to  cultivate.  In  addition  to  the 
poverty  of  the  soil,  bad  roads,  comparatively  few  railroads 
and  few  navigable  rivers  throw  much  of  this  land  out  of  use- 
fulness. But  even  more  important  than  all  this:  the  Negro 
farmer  must  seek  the  protection  of  community  life  with  his 
own  people  and  this  he  finds  in  the  black  belt.  It  is  pre- 
cisely in  this  black  belt,  however,  that  it  is  most  difficult  for 
him  to  buy  land.  For  there  it  is  that  the  capitalistic  culture 
of  cotton  with  a  system  of  labor  peonage  is  so  profitable  that 
land  is  high.  In  addition,  in  many  of  these  regions  it  is  con- 
sidered bad  policy  to  sell  land  to  Negroes  because  a  fever  of 
land  owning  "demoralizes' '  the  labor  system;  so  that  in  the 
densest  black  belt  of  the  South  the  percentage  of  land  hold- 
ing among  Negroes  is  alarmingly  low,  a  fact  that  has  led  to 
curious  moralizing  on  the  shiftlessness  of  black  men. 

The  increase  of  the  average  size  of  farms  in  many  parts 
of  the  South  is  illustrative  of  the  astounding  and  dangerous 
concentration  of  land  holding  in  that  section  which  is  itself 
more  appalling  when  it  is  noted  that  many  of  these  farms  do 
not  belong  singly  to  single  owners  but  are  owned  in  groups 
of  as  high  as  forty  or  fifty  by  great  landed  proprietors. 
Many  of  these  landed  proprietors  refuse  to  sell  a  single  acre 
of  land  to  black  men.  While  there  are  of  course  large  regions 
where  black  men  can  buy  land  on  reasonable  terms,  it  is 


The  Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American  1  35 

usually  land  poorly  situated  as  regards  markets,  or  unhealth- 
ful  in  climate,  or  so  placed  as  to  afford  the  owners  poor 
schools  and  lawless,  overbearing  white  neighbors. 

Add  to  these  facts  the  results  of  the  training  and  the 
character  of  the  Negro  farmers.  Black  farmers  are  often 
discust  and  criticised  as  tho  they  were  responsible,  trained 
men  who  carelessly  and  viciously  neglect  their  economic 
opportunity.  On  the  contrary  they  are  for  the  most  part 
unlettered  men,  consciously  and  carefully  trained  to  irrespon- 
sibility, to  whom  all  concepts  of  modern  property  and  saving 
are  new  and  who  need  benevolent  guardianship  in  their  up- 
ward striving.  Such  guardianship  they  have  in  some  cases 
received  from  former  masters  and  in  this  way  a  considerable 
number  of  the  present  land  owners  first  got  their  land.  In 
the  great  majority  of  cases  however,  this  guardianship  has 
consisted  in  deliberately  taking  the  earnings  of  the  Negro 
farmer  and  appropriating  them  to  the  use  of  the  landlord. 
The  argument  was  this:  "These  Negroes  do  not  need  this 
money.  If  I  give  it  to  them  they'll  squander  it  or  leave  the 
plantation;  therefore  I  will  give  them  just  enough  to  be 
happy  and  keep  them  with  me.  In  any  case  their  labor 
rightfully  belongs  to  me  and  my  fathers  and  was  illegally 
taken  from  us."  On  the  strength  of  this  argument  and  by 
such  practices  it  is  a  conservative  estimate  to  say  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  stipulated  wages  and  shares  of  crops  which 
the  Negro  has  earned  on  the  farm  since  emancipation  has 
been  illegally  withheld  from  him  by  the  white  landlords, 
either  on  the  plea  that  this  was  for  his  own  good  or  without 
any  plea  at  all. 

Would  this  wealth  have  been  wasted  if  given  the  laborer? 
Waiving  the  mere  question  of  the  right  of  any  employer  to 
withhold  wages,  take  the  purely  economic  question:  Is  the 
community  richer  by  such  practices?  It  is  not.  The  South 
is  poorer.  The  best  Negroes  would  have  squandered  much 
at  first  and  most  would  have  squandered  all,  but  this  would 
have  been  more  than  offset  by  the  increased  responsibility 
and  efficiency  of  the  resulting   Negro   landholders.     Nor  is 


I  36  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

this  mere  pious  opinion.  There  is  in  the  South  in  the  middle 
of  the  black  belt,  a  county  of  some  700  square  miles, 
Lowndes  County,  Alabama.  It  contained  in  1910  28,125 
Negroes  and  3,769  whites.  It  was  formerly  the  seat  of  the 
most  strenuous  type  of  American  slavery— with  absentee 
owners,  living  at  ease  in  Montgomery,  great  stretches  of 
plantations  with  500  to  1000  slaves  on  each  driven  by  over- 
seers and  riders.  There  was  no  communication  with  the  out- 
side world,  little  passing  between  plantations.  The  Negroes 
were  slothful  and  ignorant— even  today,  fifty  years  after 
emancipation,  the  illiteracy  among  those  over  ten  is  about 
51  per  cent.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  place  where 
conditions  were  on  the  whole  more  unfavorable  to  the 
rise  of  the  Negro.  The  white  element  was  lawless,  the 
Negroes  thoroly  cowed,  and  up  until  recent  times  the  body  of 
a  dead  Negro  did  not  even  call  for  an  arrest.  In  this  county 
during  the  last  twenty  years  there  has  been  carried  on  a 
scheme  of  co-operative  land  buying  under  the  Calhoun  School. 
It  was  asked  for  by  a  few  Negroes  who  could  not  get  land; 
it  was  engineered  by  a  Negro  graduate  of  Hampton;  it  was 
made^possible  by  the  willingness  of  a  white  landlord  to  sell 
his  plantation  and  actively  further  the  enterprise  by  advice 
and  good  will.  It  was  capitalized  by  white  northerners  and 
inspired  by  a  New  England  woman.  Here  was  every  element 
in  partnership  and  the  experiment  began  in  1892.  It  encoun- 
tered all  sorts  of  difficulties:  the  character  and  training  of 
the  men  involved;  the  enmity  of  the  surrounding  white  popu- 
lation with  a  few  notable  exceptions;  the  natural  suspicion 
of  the  black  population  born  of  a  regime  of  cheating;  the  low 
price  of  cotton;  several  years  of  alternate  flood  and  drouth; 
and  the  attempts  of  the  neighboring  whites  to  secure  the 
homesteads  thru  mortgages. 

The  twentieth  annual  report  of  the  Principal  of  the  Cal- 
houn Colored  School  of  Calhoun,  Lowndes  County,  Alabama, 
says: 

While  in  1892  the  majority  of  the  people  lived  in  rented  one-room 
cabins,  now  by  far  the  larger  number  are  in  cottages  of  from  two  to  four 


The  Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American  137 

rooms  and  in  some  cases  as  many  as  six  to  eight  rooms.  Many  of  these 
cottages  were  put  up  and  are  owned  by  the  Negro  occupants  on  land  they 
have  bot  thru  the  school. 

The  improvements  have  come  slowly  and  by  daily  almost  impercep- 
tible growth,  but  just  as  truly  have  they  come  to  stay  and  to  increase. 
All  the  land  the  school  had  for  sale  near  its  own  locality 
has  been  bot  by  the  Negroes.  Several  men  have  this  year  finisht 
their  payments  on  land  and  on  houses,  and  have  paid  in  full  the  mort- 
gages they  were  under.  Only  a  few  men  have  still  a  debt  remaining 
before  they  can  really  say,  ' 'These  are  our  own  homes."  In  several 
instances  a  man  has  sold  a  few  acres  of  his  land  to  lessen  the  debt  upon 
the  whole,  and  this  is  a  double  help.  It  reduces  his  financial  burden  and 
forces  him  into  more  intensive  farming. 

Not  only  from  an  economic  point  of  view  but  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  sociologist  as  well  the  experiment  here  in 
Lowndes  County  has  been  both  interesting"  and  successful. 
The  Negroes  call  it  the  "Free  Land."  There  are  no  over- 
seers and  riders  roaming  about  whipping  the  workers  and 
seducing  black  wives  and  daughters;  there  is  an  eight 
months'  school  in  their  midst,  a  pretty  new  church,  monthly 
conferences,  a  peculiar  system  of  self  government,  and  a 
family  life  of  high  moral  tone. 

What  has  been  done  in  Lowndes  County  under  the  Cal- 
houn School  and  the  sensible  guardianship  of  its  wise  leaders 
could  be  duplicated  in  every  single  black  belt  county  in  the 
South.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  such  will  be  done  and  on  that 
hope  is  based  one's  faith  in  the  economic  future  of  this  black 
rural  group. 

The  Struggling 

The  second  great  economic  group  among  the  Negroes  of 
America  may  be  called  "the  struggling."  It  includes  the 
artisans,  the  industrial  helpers,  the  servants  and  the  farm 
tenants.     This  group  is  characterized  as  follows: 

1.  It  is  sharply  divided  into  a  city  and  a  country  group. 

2.  While  it  has  a  large  significance  in  the  group  economy  of  the 
Negro  American,  its  overwhelming  significance  is  for  the  industry  of  the 
nation  as  a  whole. 

3.  Its  great  hindrance  is  the  necessity  of  group  substitution  in  the 
place  of  individual  promotion. 

4.  Its  greatest  enemy  is  the  organized  opposition  of  its  white  fellow 
workmen. 


1  38  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

The  rural  group  of  this  class  of  Negro  Americans  consists 
of  farm  tenants.  In  a  large  number  of  cases  farm  tenancy 
has  been  an  aid  to  land  buying;  in  many  cases  farm  tenancy 
has  been  a  school  of  thrift  and  saving;  in  the  majority  of 
cases  it  was  the  only  available  system  after  the  war  when  the 
Negroes  were  set  free  without  landed  possessions  of  their 
own.  Yet,  when  all  this  is  said,  it  remains  true  that  the  sys- 
tem of  farm  tenancy  as  practiced  over  the  larger  part  of  the 
South  today  is  a  direct  encouragement  to  cheating  and  peon- 
age, a  means  of  debauching  labor,  and  a  feeder  of  crime  and 
vagrancy.  It  demands  for  its  support  a  system  of  mortgage 
and  contract  laws  and  a  method  of  administration  which  are 
a  disgrace  to  twentieth  century  civilization.  For  every  man 
whom  the  system  has  helped  into  independence  it  has  pushed 
ten  back  into  virtual  slavery.  It  is  often  claimed  that  honest 
and  benevolent  employers  and  landholders  have  made  this 
system  a  means  of  uplift,  development  and  growth.  In 
thousands  of  cases  this  is  perfectly  true;  but  at  the  same 
time  it  remains  true  and  terribly  true  that  any  system  of  free 
labor  where  the  returns  of  the  laborer,  the  settlement  of  all 
disputes,  the  drawing  of  the  contract,  the  determination  of 
the  rent,  the  expenditure  of  the  employees  or  tenants,  the 
price  they  pay  for  living,  the  character  of  the  houses  they 
live  in,  and  their  movements  during  and  after  their  work  are 
left  practically  to  the  unquestionable  power  of  one  man  who 
owns  the  land  and  profits  by  the  labor  and  who  is  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  power  practically  unrestrained  by  public  opinion  or 
the  courts  and  who  has  no  fear  of  ballots  in  the  hands  of  the 
laborers  or  their  friends— any  such  system  is  inherently  wrong. 
If  men  complain  of  its  results  being  shiftlessness,  listlessness 
and  crime,  they  have  themselves  to  thank.  To  the  man  who 
declares  that  he  is  acting  justly  and  treating  his  tenants  and 
employees  even  better  than  they  treat  themselves,  it  is  suf- 
ficient answer  to  say  that  he  is  an  exception  to  the  rule;  that 
the  majority  of  the  landholders  are  as  indifferent  to  the  wel- 
fare of  their  men  as  are  employers  the  world  over;  and  that 
a  deplorably  large  minority  consciously  oppress  and  cheat 


The  Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American  1  39 

them.  The  best  employer  or  landholder  suffers  therefore 
for  the  sins  of  the  average. 

The  only  salvation  for  these  Negro  tenants  lies  in  land- 
holding,  and  in  this  the  Negroes  have  made  commendable 
strides.  In  1890  Negro  Americans  owned  120,738  farms:  in 
1900  they  owned  187,799  farms;  in  1910  they  owned  about 
220,000  farms,  an  increase  of  over  82  per  cent.  If  the  Ne- 
groes thruout  the  whole  of  the  rural  South  had  been  encour- 
aged by  such  wise  economic  leadership  as  was  the  case  in 
Lowndes  County,  Alabama,  referred  to  above,  the  record 
would  be  even  more  encouraging. 

The  city  group  of  this  class  of  Negro  workers  consists  of 
perhaps  130,000  skilled  artisans,  600,000  semi-skilled  and 
ordinary  industrial  helpers,  and  500,000  servants.  The  ser- 
vant class  has  lost  most  of  its  best  representatives  because  it 
offers  a  narrower  and  narrower  method  of  uplift,  This  is 
due  in  part  to  foreign  competition  and  in  part  to  the  fact  that 
the  temptations  to  Negro  girls  in  domestic  service  are  greater 
than  in  any  single  industry.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
mulatto  is  the  product  of  house  service  in  the  South. 

With  the  skilled  and  semi-skilled  Negroes  the  industrial 
history  has  been  this:  Groups  of  Negroes  have  been  excluded 
entirely  from  certain  trades  and  admitted  to  others.  Unfor- 
tunately they  have  been  able  to  hold  their  place  in  the  second 
set  by  working  for  lower  wages,  tho  in  certain  industries 
they  have  forced  themselves  without  resorting  to  the  lever  of 
low  wages.  This  gave  the  trade  unions  a  chance  to  fight 
Negroes  as  scabs.  In  some  battles  the  unions  won  and  so  con- 
tinued to  exclude  Negroes.  In  other  cases  the  Negroes  won  and 
were  admitted  to  the  unions.  Even  in  the  union,  however, 
they  have  been  and  are  today  discriminated  against  in  many 
cases.  In  the  near  future  the  members  of  this  class  of  Negro 
workingmen  are  going  to  have  the  struggle  of  their  lives  and 
the  outlook  indicates  that  by  the  fulcrum  of  low  wages  and 
the  group  economy,  coupled  with  increasing  efficiency,  they 
will  win.  This  means  that  the  Negro  is  to  be  admitted  to 
the  national  economy  only  by  degrading   labor   conditions. 


1  40  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

The  alternative  offered  is  shameful  and  could  be  easily  avoided 
if  color  prejudice  did  not  insist  upon  group  substitution  for 
Negroes  in  industry.  That  is,  under  present  conditions  a 
single  individual  or  a  few  men  of  Negro  descent  cannot 
usually  gain  admittance  to  an  industry.  Only  when  they  can 
produce  workmen  enough  to  supply  the  whole  industry  or  the 
particular  enterprise  can  the  black  man  be  admitted.  Then 
immediately  this  substitution  is  made  the  occasion  of  a  change 
in  labor  conditions — lower  wages,  longer  hours  and  worse 
treatment.  It  thus  often  happens  that  by  refusing  to  work 
beside  a  single  black  man,  the  workmen  in  an  industry  suffer 
a  general  lowering  of  wages  and  working  conditions.  The 
real  economic  question  in  the  South  is:  How  long  will  race 
prejudice  supply  a  more  powerful  motive  to  white  working- 
men  of  the  South  than  decent  wages  and  industrial  conditions? 
Today  the  powerful  threat  of  Negro  labor  is  making  child 
labor  and  the  fourteen-hour  day  possible  in  southern  factories. 
How  long  will  it  be  before  the  white  workingmen  of  the  South 
discover  that  the  interests  that  bind  them  to  their  black 
brothers  are  greater  than  those  that  artificially  separate  them? 
The  answer  is  easy:  That  discovery  will  not  be  made  until 
the  present  wave  of  extraordinary  prosperity  and  exploitation 
passes  and  the  ordinary  every  day  level  of  economic  struggle 
begins.  If  the  Negro  can  hold  his  own  until  then  his  develop- 
ment is  certain. 

The  Common   Laborers 

The  third  distinct  economic  group  of  American  Negroes  is 
the  group  of  common  laborers  numbering  more  than  two  mil- 
lions. A  million  and  a  quarter  are  farm  laborers  and  the 
remainder  are  common  laborers  of  other  sorts.  This  group 
includes  half  the  breadwinners  of  the  race  and  its  condition 
is  precarious.  In  many  of  the  country  districts  of  the  South 
the  laws  concerning  contracts,  wages  and  vagrancy  are  con- 
tinually forcing  the  lower  half  of  these  laborers  into  pauper- 
ism and  crime.  In  most  of  the  southern  states  the  law  con- 
cerning the  breaking  of  a  contract  to  work  made  between  an 
ignorant  farm  hand  and  a  land  owner  and  covering  a  year's 


The  Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American  1  4 1 

time  is  enforced  to  the  letter  and  the  breaking  of  such  a  con- 
tract by  the  laborer  is  a  penitentiary  offense.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  homicides  in  the  country  districts  of  the  South 
in  which  Negroes  are  the  slayers  or  the  victims  arise  from 
disputes  over  wage  settlement.  So  intolerable  has  the  con- 
dition of  the  farm  laborer  of  the  South  become,  that  he  is 
running  away  from  the  country  and  entering  the  cities,  there 
to  add  to  the  already  complex  problems  of  city  life.  One 
frequently  hears  the  demand  for  immigrants  to  fill  the  places 
of  these  fleeing  Negro  farm  hands.  Notwithstanding  all 
efforts  in  this  direction  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  group  of 
immigrants  will  stand  the  present  contract  and  crop  lien  sys- 
tem. Certain  it  is  that  they  will  not  stand  the  lawlessness 
of  the  average  country  district  of  the  South  where  every 
white  man  is  a  law  unto  himself  and  where  no  Negro  has  any 
rights  which  the  worst  white  man  is  bound  to  respect.  So  bad 
has  this  lawlessness  become  in  some  parts  of  the  South  that 
concerted  and  commendable  action  has  been  taken  against 
white  cappers  and  night  riders  and  a  few  peonage  cases 
have  reached  the  courts.  These  efforts,  however,  have  but 
scratched  the  surface  of  the  real  trouble — a  trouble  which  lies 
deep-seated  in  the  social  fabric  of  the  South,  a  trouble  which 
so  seriously  retards  the  whole  South  in  its  economic  advance- 
ment and  development. 

On  the  whole  there  are  four  general  cures  for  the  economic 
submersion  of  this  class  of  Negro  Americans.  First,  the 
classes  above  must  be  given  every  facility  to  rise  so  as  not  to 
bear  down  upon  them  from  above.  Secondly,  the  system  of 
law  and  law  courts  in  the  South  by  which  it  is  practically 
impossible  in  the  country  districts  and  improbable  even  in  the 
cities  for  a  black  laborer  to  force  justice  from  a  white  em- 
ployer must  be  changed.  Thirdly,  Negro  children  must  be 
given  common  school  training.  The  states  are  not  doing 
their  duty  in  this  respect  and  the  tendency  in  some  of  them 
is  to  do  less.  ' 


1  See  Atlanta  University  Publication,  No.  16,  The  Common  School  and  the  Negro  American. 


142  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Finally,  the  black  laborer  must  have  a  vote.  It  is  impos- 
sible for  these  two  million  and  more  black  workingmen  to 
maintain  themselves  when  thrust  into  modern  competitive 
industry  so  long  as  the  state  allows  them  no  voice  or  influence 
in  the  making  of  the  laws  or  the  interpretation  and  adminis- 
tration of  the  same. 

The  value  of  land  and  buildings  owned  by  Negroes  in  the 
South  in  1910  was  $272,992,238,  an  increase  of  nearly  90  per 
cent  in  a  single  decade.  This  does  not  include  land  owned 
by  Negro  farmers  and  rented  out.  On  a  basis  of  the  value 
of  farm  property  the  total  Negro  wealth  today  may  be  esti- 
mated at  $570,000,000.  Yet  in  much  of  the  South  the  holders 
of  this  wealth  are  as  absolutely  disfranchised  as  the  worst 
criminal  in  the  penitentiary.  They  cannot  say  a  word  as  to 
the  condition  of  the  roads  and  highways  which  pass  their 
property,  or  as  to  the  location  or  supervision  of  their  schools 
or  the  choice  of  teachers,  or  as  to  the  selection  of  the 
government  officials  or  the  fixing  of  the  rate  of  taxation. 

Summary 

Half  the  Negro  breadwinners  of  the  nation  are  partially 
submerged  by  a  bad  economic  system,  an  unjust  administra- 
tion of  the  laws,  and  enforced  ignorance.  Their  future 
depends  on  common  schools,  justice,  and  the  right  to  vote. 
A  million  and  three-quarters  of  men  just  above  these  are 
fighting  a  fierce  battle  for  admission  to  the  industrial  ranks 
of  the  nation— for  the  right  to  work.  They  are  handicapped 
by  their  own  industrial  history  which  has  made  them  often 
shiftless  and  untrustworthy;  but  they  can,  by  means  of  wise 
economic  leadership,  be  made  a  strong  body  of  artisans  and 
land  owners.  Three  hundred  thousand  men  stand  economi- 
cally at  the  head  of  the  Negroes,  and  by  a  peculiar  self  pro- 
tecting group  economy  are  making  themselves  independent  of 
prejudice  and  competition. 

What  can  be  said  of  any  one  of  these  groups  of  black 
working  men  can  be  said  of  them  all.  In  so  far  as  they  are 
given  opportunity  and  assured  justice,  in  so  far  can  the  world 
expect  from  them  the  maximum  of  efficiency  and  service. 


Index 

African  Artisan,  The 24-27 

Ages  of  Negro  Employees 47 

Alabama 48-49,  84,  123,  124,  136,  139 

Ante-bellum  Negro  Artisan,  The 28-37 

Arizona 50 

Arkansas 50-51 

Artisans,  Negro,  in  the  United  States 44 

Atlanta 56,  130,  133 

Atlanta  University 21,  22,  27,  29,  82,  114,  117,  124,  141 

Baltimore 40,  53 

Bibliography,  A  Select 9-20,  24 

California  . 51,  87,  95-97 

Chicago 34,  57,  85,  88,  132 

Colorado 50,  97 

Connecticut 52,  97-98 

Delaware 52-53 

District  of  Columbia 52-53 

Economic  Future  of  the  Negro  American 127-142 

Economic  Groups  of  Negro  Americans 130 

Economics  of  Emancipation,  The 37-40 

Efficiency,  Negro 127,  130 

Florida 53,  93,  124 

Georgia 30,  31,  32,  33,  34,  54-57,  91,  92,  124 

Group  Economy  of  Negroes 38,  40,  127,  128-129 

Illinois 57,  89,  98-99 

Indiana 57,  83,  99 

Iowa 58-59,  100 

Kansas 58,  89,  100,  124 

Kentucky 59-61 

Louisiana 61-62,  124 

Maine 62-63 

Maryland 52-53 

Massachusetts 52,  100 

Michigan       57,  100 

Minnesota 57-58 

Mississippi 63-64,  125 

Missouri 65-66,  92,  100-101 

Montana 74,  101 


]  44  The  Negro  American  Artisan 

Nebraska 74,  101 

Negro  Skilled  Laborers  by  Selected  Cities 46 

Negro  Skilled  Laborers  by  Selected  States 45 

Nevada  .    .    • 50 

New  Hampshire 62-63,  101-102 

New  Jersey 66-67,  69,  102 

New  Mexico 50 

New  Orleans 62,  106,  112 

New  York 66-69,  88,  102-103 

New  York  City 31,  34,  40,  67-68,  82,  85,  89,  109-111,  132 

North  Carolina 70,  125 

Occupations  of  Negroes 41-47 

Ohio 34,  70-72,  103,  125 

Oklahoma 73-74,  93 

Ontario >   .  106 

Oregon 74,  104 

Organized  Labor,  The  Negro  and 82-106 

Pennsylvania 29,  66-67,  104-105,  107-109 

Philadelphia 34,  40,  107,  108,  132 

Pittsburg 107,  108,  112 

Porto  Rico 105-106,  113-114 

Race  Prejudice 127,  129-130 

Results  of  the  Attitude  of  Unions,  Some 106-114 

Rhode  Island 62-63,  105 

Schools 116-119 

Scope  of  the  Inquiry 21-23 

South  Carolina 74-76,  125 

Summary 142 

Tennessee 76-77,  86,  93,  126 

Texas 77-79,  92,  93,  94,  126 

Training  of  Negro  American  Artisans,  The 115-127 

Utah 50 

Vermont 62-63 

Virginia 24,  28,  29,  79-81,  90,  93,  126 

Wage  Earners  by  Sex,  General  Nativity  and  Color 42 

Wage  Earners,  Negro,  by  States 43 

Washington 74,  105 

Washington,  D.  C 34,  53,  132,  133 

West  Virginia 81-82,  126 

Wisconsin 57,  91,  105 

Wyoming 74,  106-107 


STUDIES  OF  NEGRO  PROBLEMS 

The  Atlanta  University  Publications 

COPIES  FOR  SALE 

No.    1.     Mortality  among  Negroes  in  Cities;   51  pp.,  1896. 
Out  of  print. 

Mortality  among  Negroes  in  Cities;  24  pp.  (2d  edi- 
tion, abridged,  1903).     120  copies  at  25c. 

No.    2.     Social  and  Physical  Conditions  of  Negroes  in  Cities; 
86  pp.,  1897.     750  copies  at  25c. 

No.    3.     Some  Efforts  of  Negroes  for  Social  Betterment;  66 
pp.,  1898.     Out  of  print. 

No.    4.     The  Negro  in  Business;  78  pp.,  1899.     Out  of  print. 

No.    5.     The  College-bred  Negro ;  115  pp. ,  1900.    Out  of  print. 

The    College-bred    Negro;    32    pp.,     (2d    edition, 
abridged,  1902).     977  copies  at  25c. 

No.    6.     The  Negro  Common  School;  120  pp.,  1901.     Out  of 
print. 

The  Negro  Artisan ;  200  pp. ,  1902.    350  copies  at  75c. 

The  Negro  Church;  212  pp.,  1903.   120  copies  at  $1.50. 

Notes  on  Negro  Crime ;  75  pp. ,  1904.  754  copies  at  50c. 

No.  10.     A  Select  Bibliography  of  the  Negro  American;   72 
pp.,  1905.     670  copies  at  25c. 

No.  11.     Health  and  Physique  of  the  Negro  American;  112 
pp.,  1906.     49  copies  at  $1.50. 

No.  12.     Economic   Co-operation   among  Negro  Americans; 
184  pp.,  1907.     1200  copies  at  $1.00. 

No.  13.     The  Negro  American  Family;  152  pp.,   1908.     975 
copies  at  75c. 

No.  14.     Efforts  for  Social  Betterment  among  Negro  Ameri- 
cans; 136  pp.,  1909.     450  copies  at  75c. 

No.  15.     The  College-bred  Negro  American;    104  pp.,  1910. 
950  copies  at  75c. 

No.  16.     The  Common  School  and  the  Negro  American;  140 
pp.,  1911.     1059  copies  at  75c. 

No.  17.     The  Negro  American  Artisan,  144  pp.,  1912.     2000 
copies  at  75c. 


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"^HE  dear  earth  is  very  foolish.  It 
-*■  is  making  such  a  pother  about 
color  and  race  and  forgetting  the  spirit 
in  man.  As  tho  for  one  moment  of 
the  eternal  moments  it  matters  whether 
a  man's  skin  is  black  or  white  or  red 
or  yellow,  whether  he  lives  in  a  palace 
or  a  cabin.  These  things  are  not  life. 
They  are  only  shadows.  Forget  them 
and  Stand  in  the  sunlight  of  gentleness 
and  brotherhood— the  light  moSt  pre- 
cious.        —Mary  White  Ovington. 


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